A New Dawn
by Duesal Bladesinger
Summary: Obito is able to seal the Jūbi within himself a bit faster than he expected, fast enough that the Allied Shinobi Forces haven't reached them yet. This leaves Uzumaki Naruto completely at his mercy. He cannot resist when the Ten-Tail's Jinchūriki forces him from his own world. A dimension-hopping story.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. Some Japanese guy seems hell-bent on twisting the show beyond recognition though, so blame him.

**Author's Note: **_Many of you may recognize this story. That's because it's already been published in what I've dubbed my 'plot-bunny account'. However, because of my sudden interest in certain characters of the Narutoverse, this plot-bunny has now been promoted to a full-blown story._

_Also, 'Hands of Time'. It's coming soon, I swear. My muse has finally returned._

**Warning:** _This is written in present tense._

* * *

**~o0O0o~**

**A New Dawn**

Prologue

Uzumaki Naruto has had too many close calls to count, but this is the first time that he realizes he cannot win, that no amount of fighting will change anything for the better. This time, they've truly _lost_.

Despite the knowledge, spiky blond locks stand straight up as undulating power bursts forth from within like a river raging through the broken remains of a dam. The Kyūbi jinchūriki stands firm as the world goes to hell. He owes it to them, those who died, to fight and never stop. It doesn't _matter_ that they stand no chance; he'll be _damned_ if he dies without giving it his all.

Thus, Naruto prepares himself for the inevitable end.

He doesn't even flinch when _he_ appears: the man with the eyes of power, different though they may be. One with swirls of inky black in a sea of blood, and the other a royal purple, the concentric ripples leading back to the pupil.

Mangekyō Sharingan and Rinnegan pulse in unison.

Grey skin harder than steel, mismatched horns that erupt from his crown, and an ebon staff with six coppery rings

"_Obito_," Naruto growls, instinctively tensing his muscles in preparation for the upcoming confrontation. "We'll never accept this!"

Obito's face is a blank slate, void of all emotion. His eyes seem to shimmer with a hint of annoyance, but Naruto can't be sure. The man takes a step forward, then another, and another, each one leaving a trail of black flames.

The air thickens.

There's a flash of movement. Naruto doesn't realize how, but he finds himself sprawling on the ground, his arm twisted at an odd angle and his mouth spraying with blood. The world briefly disappears in red and black and crushing pain before he regains his sight, only to find Obito standing above him with his arms crossed.

His eyes are piercing and his expression blank.

_This is not the visage of a human._

"Uzumaki Naruto, you've proven yourself far too much of a nuisance to be allowed to live, even if half the Kyūbi is still held within you." Obito's is the unearthly whisper of a deity, brimming with contempt and self-righteousness.

_This is a god in every sense of the word._

Naruto tries to snarl at the words, but finds that he can't; his jaw has been shattered, and even Kurama is having trouble healing it.

Obito reaches out, chakra pooling dangerously as kanji blaze into existence at the tips of his fingers.

Naruto scrambles away as best as he can with his injured limbs, Obito trailing him effortlessly.

"No! Stay away! You're _not_ gonna seal me, 'ttebayo! I won't let you take Kurama!" His jaw has managed to heal enough for him to speak, but it still feels like fire sliding into his flesh with each movement.

His limbs, although healing at an astonishing rate, are still only semi-functional, forcing him to awkwardly drag himself across the ruinous plain. A trail of blood marks his path.

Obito merely vanishes and reappears in front of the blond, shoving his chakra-encased fingers into Naruto's stomach. A matrix springs into existence.

With a gasp, the Naruto drops to the floor, the agony of his new seal causing his mind to go blank.

Obito's face displays no emotion, but his eyes _gleam_ with malice. "Uzumaki Naruto, know that I am this world's _god_. I cast you out that you may never return."

The seal engulfs his being, and Naruto _burns_. The last thing he is aware of is the screams of his allies who have finally caught up to him.

His eyes close in absolute shame as he realizes that he has failed them all for the last time, but he does _not_ close them willingly.

His name is Uzumaki Naruto, and he'll be _damned_ if he ever stopped fighting. He struggles to open them, to stay awake, to _win_.

But the seal of a god will not be denied. With a single flare, Naruto is completely overpowered.

His thoughts die a quiet death in the void, and his soul is set adrift through the unending expanses of Oblivion.

* * *

**Author's Note: **_I'm quite intrigued as to how you all will receive this. Love it? Hate it? Does the writing __style not appeal to you? Let me know what you think!_


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto. Some Japanese guy seems hell-bent on twisting the show beyond recognition though, so blame him.

* * *

**~o0O0o~**

**A New Dawn**

Chapter 1

_When Uzumaki Naruto wakes, it is not to bellowed war-cries or the screams of the dying. He wakes to a world of light._

Trees shield him from the worst of the sunlight while a warm breeze drifts through the air. Naruto pushes himself off the ground, stunned and confused. Has Obito killed him? Is this heaven?

He realizes that he's standing in a small playground before he _sees_. He wants to deny it, to say that it couldn't be real, that it is all a Genjutsu, yet four faces stare firmly into the distance. Four, _not_ five—Tsunade-baa-chan isn't on the mountain anymore.

Below the monument, life goes on in the peaceful village. People cheerfully wave to one another in the streets, shopkeepers call out to passer-bys to come look at their wares. Everyone's so damn _happy_. It's almost as if nothing happened.

_As if no one had died._

Naruto suddenly wants to scream. Is Obito trying to erase the existence of everyone he cares about with this Genjutsu? To render their hardships and sacrifices worthless? The thought outraged him, causing his over-stressed mind to go blank with fury. He breathes heavily with a primitive rage, the aura he emits more than enough to scare away just about anything that can move.

When he opens his eyes, they are crimson and inhuman, and when he speaks, his voice is the primal growl of a beast.

**"Obito . . ."**

Naruto and the monster sealed within him work in tandem with each other, one fueling the other with devastating power. He brings dangerously tensed hands in front of his body into a familiar seal. He and Kurama will _break _this fake world in a single overwhelming blast.

He doesn't even look up when dozens of ANBU race towards him in response to his massive build-up of chakra.

Red eyes flash when he knows he's ready, and just as the first sword descends on his unmoving form, he _roars_.

**"KAI!"**

* * *

The entire attacking force is blasted away by a wall of pure, dense chakra. The ground craters around this unknown shinobi as he gathers more and more of his seemingly bottomless power. It's like nothing they've ever seen. They tense in apprehension when he growls, almost to himself, **"You won't win . . ."**

What? What does that mean?

ANBU though they are, his voice floods ice through their veins. **"I won't let you win!" **Before they can even wonder who the man is screaming at, the air turns to _syrup_. The previously boisterous village slowly falls silent with a deathly fear as the blond man's killing intent rises to unbearable levels. Several of the ANBU gasp, clutching at their chests are they struggle to keep their hearts beating, some just barely managing to do so.

**"I won't be trapped in your fake world!" **An explosive pulse of power, enough the make the trees shudder and _force_ the ANBU to stumble and falter. **"I'll stop you no matter what!"** Another blast, this one with enough power to flood the entire village, fueled with more chakra than most S-rank techniques. The ANBU are blasted clear off their feet, some only able to stop moving after dozens of yards.

The man screams in rage when he finds that his surroundings are still the same, as if he hasn't done enough yet.

The ANBU simultaneously blanch as the air becomes thicker and the man's canines begin to bulge from his mouth.

His snarl now matches those blood-red eyes.

* * *

Naruto knows he will be trapped in this world forever unless he destroyes it from within. Until then, Obito will roam free, slaughtering whoever he deems 'unworthy' of his new world. Naruto's blood boils as he thinks about it.

_Kurama!_

**_I know, brat! On my__ signal!_**

* * *

The ANBU are at a total loss. They don't know how to deal with someone they can't even approach, someone who can through unknown means knock them off their feet and flood their entire village with his terrifying killing-intent. Kunai and shuriken have been exhausted, ninjutsu has bounced right off, and conventional weapons are meaningless when there seems to be a barrier with a radius of six yards. They stand there, helpless, as the man before them burns.

Yes, _burns_.

They gape as his body is suddenly illuminated with a golden light, as thick black stripes that appear on his cheeks accentuate monstrous red eyes, casting his sharp features in a feral light. They tremble as a cloak of pure golden chakra materializes itself around his already god-like form. It's when the air turns _electric_ that they realize there is no way they can beat such a creature.

Without warning, though, the light disappears. Vanishes without a trace. The intruder almost looks confused for a moment, the inhuman red fleeing from his eyes before they roll to the back of his head and he crumples to the floor. The ANBU almost cry with relief when they see who was standing behind the monster.

"Hokage-sama!" They finally notice the sealing matrix that spans across the floor, immobilizing the intruder.

"You saved us!" The ANBUs' younger recruits _do_ cry in relief, despite the professionalism that's been drilled into them. Their order has an intimate relationship with death, but it's not often that the members are absolutely certain that they won't survive. And even ANBU react humanly every now and then.

As the squads marvel at the fact that they are still alive, Namikaze Minato remains unmoving as he stares at the man at his feet. Bright blond hair, unmistakeable whisker marks. His build is a bit sturdier, and he stands a bit shorter, but the resemblance cannot be denied. This man—no, this _boy_ since he looks sixteen at the most—could have easily passed as his son.

But he only has one child. He _knows_ he only has one child.

Her name is Uzumaki Naruko, and she just became a jōnin yesterday.

Minato's eyes narrow as he stares at the man at his feet, his mind racing.

His first thought is that he's staring at a clone. But if this is a real clone, the boy should look identical to him, not merely similar. That idea is dismissed.

The second theory he comes up with is that the boy is some sort of a long-lost relative, abducted and trained in secret as a result of Minato's fame. It was a long-shot, but still possible.


	3. Chapter 2

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

* * *

**A New Dawn**

Chapter 2: The Dead Are Among Us

* * *

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

_When Naruto first wakes, it is to a world filled with light. But now, his awareness expands on a world cloaked in darkness, a world that reeks of death._

The voices are outside the door again.

"How is he now? Any progress?"

They've been there for weeks now.

"Nothing so far. He just sits and stares at the wall all day. Doesn't so much as try to move."

Always watching, always observing.

"So nothing has changed since the . . . _incident_. Does he at least eat?"

Poking and prodding at him like he's an animal.

"He eats, enough to keep himself healthy anyway." There's a snort accompanying this statement.

They pause for a moment, as if lost in thought. Then one set of feet walk away, boots echoing through the long hallway. A metal door slams shut moments later.

Outside the door, the guard sighs in boredom, "Looks like it's just you and me again."

Uzumaki Naruto doesn't reply. What's the point of talking to fake people anyway?

* * *

Namikaze Minato doesn't know what to do when, despite his best efforts, the entire village knows about his blond look-alike that he's been keeping under lock and key. Apparently, one of the Academy students had seen the entire incident from a distance and had told his classmates who told _their_ parents, and it was all over once any information was released to the civilian parents.

Minato sighs.

Gossiping circles can just go to hell.

Just as he leans back in his chair to try and take a break from the abomination known as paperwork, his door slams open. Minato groans as none of the ANBU bother to intercept the intruder. There are only two people they were absolutely not allowed to touch: the first being his wife, Uzumaki Kushina, and the second being their daughter, newly minted jōnin Uzumaki Naruko. Minato doesn't particularly care that his daughter took her mother's name. To him, a name is just a name. Naruko will be his daughter no matter what.

He just wishes that at times she wouldn't be so _loud_. Honestly, just like her mother. The only thing she got from him was her hair and eyes. The rest of her was all Kushina, right down to the quality of her chakra.

"Tou-saaan," she whines, her blonde pigtails bouncing at the sides of her head. "I don't _want _a genin team! Ino doesn't have one, and neither does Sakura!" Naruko proceeds to list every reason why she shouldn't be entrusted with living breathing humans, including the fact that she'd inherited her mother's sense of personal hygiene and the fact that she mainly survived on ramen.

Minato is surprised that she doesn't bring up her pranking habits.

But the deal-breaker is something about how she will probably take her relatively financially-secure children out to gamble with Tsunade whenever she has the chance.

Minato has to resist the urge to slap a palm across his own face.

* * *

Three days later, the Yondaime decides to visit Konoha's newest and potentially most dangerous prisoner. He is kept in a compound deep underground, a place built in a rare joint effort between Danzō and the Yondaime. The man is a bit archaic at times in his methods, but there is no denying the use he has for Konoha despite his aggressive tendencies.

Footsteps echo as the Yondaime makes his way down a bleached hallway, the only lighting unnatural and flat. Guards nod to him as he passes, some wearing the standard flack jacket issued to every shinobi chūnin and above, others donned in ANBU gear, mask and all. High level prisoners need higher level guards, and only the worst ever make it in here.

After all, this was where he had personally dumped Orochimaru.

Minato comes to a stop before Room 266. He looks expectantly at the bearded guard who merely nods in compliance and opens the door. The air is brisk as he steps in.

Messy yellow hair that stands up like flames, piercing blue eyes that stare into his soul. It really is like looking at a younger version of himself.

The Yondaime smiles, his teeth bright in the fluorescent lighting. "Hello, prisoner 1265."

Naruto eyes widen as he flinches back and snarls, "Go away! I won't talk!"

Minato nods to the guard who closes the door behind him, leaving him in the room with the other blond. Turning to face the younger man, Minato's face loses all sense of kindness and warmth. His eyes are ice and his voice an arctic front. Everything about him is glacial and ruthless.

"We have much to discuss, you and I."

* * *

**Author's Note:** _As a bit of a warning to all readers, sorry, many of the chapters are ridiculously short. However, the update speeds will be much faster by consequence. I don't know, the two kind of even each other out? :P_

_Anyway, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me via PM._


	4. Chapter 3

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

* * *

**A New Dawn**

Chapter 3: Nothing Is Real

* * *

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

Uzumaki Naruto refuses to believe a word they say. They're all fakes anyway, shadows conjured by Obito to chip away at his sanity. But he won't let them win.

"Shut up."

Namikaze Minato—or his shadow—is interrupted as he goes over the details of what he calls _the incident. _Naruto supposes that this was when he arrived in the genjutsu, but he can't be too sure. He hasn't bothered to pay any attention to the conjuration of his father.

* * *

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

Minato's eye twitches at the sheer _gall_ the boy before him displays. Deeming the entire exercise pointless, he gets up to leave. It's been three hours, after all. Three hours of futile interrogations, unanswered questions, and utter exasperation. Tomorrow, Ibiki will be called into action and he will literally rip the truth from this intruder's screams. Minato has seen it done before.

One day, that's all. Then Konoha will know why this boy has arrived in their midst.

Before he exits the room, Minato makes sure that the chakra-suppression seals that ensnare the chamber are well in order. It won't do to have an S-class threat running around the village.

He has his suspicions about the boy's identity, his greatest clues being the seal on his stomach and the eerie resemblance to Naruko, but none of that changes the fact that the boy is a very real danger, one that left an entire force of ANBU quaking in their boots before he had the chance to arrive.

Just as he passes through the door, the Yondaime looks back. The prisoner is leaning back on his small cot, glaring at the ceiling. But something strange happens when Minato catches a glimpse of his eyes—seas of blue that rage against the world.

Naruto's gaze snaps to his own. It burns into him with an intensity that makes him want to take several steps back, because those eyes do not belong to one so young. Those eyes have known the horrors of war, seen the brutality of human nature. Those are the eyes of a man willing to jump headlong off a cliff to come at his foes.

Those eyes hold more ferocity than the current Raikage's.

It's all Minato can do to fight off a shiver.

* * *

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

"Naruko!"

A young blonde in standard jounin attire stops in the middle of the street at the sound of her name. Her face lights up with a sunny smile when she sees who called out to her. It's another girl with mouse-brown hair that's been tied into twin buns.

"Hi, Tenten!" She waves the other girl over with a giggle. They proceed to walk down the languid lane arm-in-arm as they swap stories and bits of gossip. The morning sun brightens by the minute as a few clouds lazily drift through the sky.

"Have you heard that Sasuke-kun might be promoted to ANBU Captain soon?"

Naruko looks up in surprise before she pouts, "No, I haven't. The asshole never tells me anything!"

Tenten merely laughs as her friend continues to point out all of Sasuke's irredeemable qualities, the most prominent of which being his insufferable personality, but she knows that those two are close. They'd been friends since Naruko's birth, the Uzumaki and the Uchiha, always squabbling with one another, always fighting over the pettiest things.

And yet, despite the constant antagonism, those two are always there for each other. Tenten wishes that she and Neji could be like that.

"Hey, have you heard anything about that new prisoner?"

Tenten blinks at the question, a bit surprised by the sudden turn in the conversation.

"Um . . . no," she replies. "Nothing so far."

Naruko shakes her head in disappointment. "Aw, come on! You've got to know _something!_"

"But I really don't—"

"Isn't your dad one of the ANBU who brought him in?"

"_Quiet!_" the brunette hisses, eyes darting around for any eavesdroppers. "No one's supposed to know who he is!"_  
_

Naruko offers an embarrassed laugh and an awkward smile. "Sorry?"

Tenten sighs. "Despite my _connections_," she pointedly glares at her friend, "I don't know anything about the guy. Classified and all that."

A pout. "I want to meet that guy. He felt so _strong_, like a kage. But even my _dad_ has never felt anything like that."

Tenten watches as her friend's eyes dance with awe.

"Isn't it strange, Tenten? Here we are training for all our lives to become strong ninja, then this guy comes along and paralyzes the entire village like it's nothing."

Tenten can't help but grimace at the memory. She had been walking through to streets on her way back from buying groceries when she felt a massive build-up of chakra coming from the north side. Like any good Konoha ninja, she went to investigate. It was fortunate that she was still on the ground when it happened, though.

There was a massive burst of the densest chakra she had ever felt in her life. She was nearly blown off her feet, and she _would_ have been had she not used her own chakra to latch onto the ground. Then she was forced to her knees as the air turned to _sludge_, making breathing an uphill task and her heart race with fear. A brilliant golden light shone from over the roofs, then as quickly as it came, it vanished._  
_

Abruptly, that monstrous intent disappeared as well.

By the time Tenten made it to the area from where she felt the blast originate, there was no one there.

She heard about him days later, the man who looked like the Yondaime but felt like a beast.

"Yeah, he really is quite the mystery, isn't he? Have you asked Hokage-sama about him yet?"

Naruko grimaces as she scuffs the ground with her shoe, snorting irritably, "Are you kidding? As if he'd tell me anything." Abruptly, her blue eyes are filled with a vague sense of panic. "He's already trying to make me take a genin team!"

Oh, the horror of responsibility! Quite ironic for someone who dreamed of becoming Hokage.

"And what about Konohamaru?"

Naruko waves a hand in dismissal. "That's different. He's like my apprentice or something like that. Sorta."

"I thought you didn't want to teach?" The brunette tilts her head in amusement.

". . . Your point?"

Tenten sighs and decides to just enjoy the walk while her blonde friend tries to talk her to death.

* * *

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

The Kyuubi is proud and mighty, but even it can feel respect for those who deserve it. Right now, though, the only one it respects is Uzumaki Naruto.

_**Naruto . . .**_ The boy stares up at the blank ceiling, the only signs that he has heard at all being the slight twitching of his ears. He choses to respond in his mind, knowing that the fox was the one thing that absolutely could not be faked by Obito, no matter how powerful the genjutsu.

_Yeah, Kurama?_

_**You have languished for too long. It is time for us to leave this wretched place.**_

Naruto snorts as he idly blows his spiky bangs out of his eyes, his forehead protector no longer keeping his hair up since it had been confiscated. This genjutsu was pretty damn good if the fakes could even touch him and his things.

_We _can't_ leave. Even if this entire world is made up, those chakra-suppression seals are no joke. Obito went all out with this one._

Kurama snarls at the audacity of his container. Who does he think he's dealing with?!

_**You **_**fool!**_** You forget your true nature!**_

Naruto's eyes shoot open at the anger in Kurama's voice. _Wha-?_

_**What are you, **_**Naruto?**_** Have you truly forgotten the bottomless power that lies in your grasp?**_

Naruto stills with the realization. _The Nine-Tails chakra . . . I am the vessel . . ._

The Kyūbi is rather smug. _**Precisely. Nothing here can withstand my power.**_

The Uzumaki boy grins, choosing to speak aloud for the first time in days, "Let's get started!"

The guard pounds on his door. "What's going on in there?!"

Naruto does not respond, only feels as suppression seals steadily crumble under the full power of the Kyuubi no Youko. Just as the guard manages to open the massive steel door, Naruto allows his body to burn with that golden light.

The last of the seals pulses weakly before it disintegrates as well.

The poor guard nearly wets his pants when crimson eyes pin him to the floor.

**"You . . ." **The demonic voice shoots ice through his veins. **"Tell your fake Hokage that so long as he doesn't follow me, I will leave this village alone."**

The man trembles as the prisoner takes a step closer. He can feel the air crackling with power. **"_Got it?_"**

The man nods desperately, and the former prisoner smiles, prominent fangs bulging from his mouth.

Naruto vanishes with a burst of godlike speed, leaving naught but a golden flash in his wake.

When the Yondaime arrives mere minutes later, all he sees are broken seals, a blubbering guard, and two footprints that had dug into concrete.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I wonder what Kurama does to pass the time...


	5. Chapter 4

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

* * *

**A New Dawn**

Chapter 4: An Anomaly Set Loose

* * *

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

Namikaze Minato is at his wit's end. He and Danzō built this prison a full mile under Konoha, tunneling through solid rock and building the infrastructure from titanium steel for maximum security purposes. And it only takes this boy who came out of nowhere a few days to break out like it's nothing.

Calculating blue eyes sweep across seal after broken seal, taking in the smooth bed-sheets and the blank white walls.

Minato seethes.

The boy had the _audacity_ to leave without a trace, too!

Minato mutters under his breath as he rakes a hand through spiky blond locks, losing himself in his self-pitying thoughts. He raises a brow when one of his guardian ANBU steps out of the shadows and bows respectfully.

"Hokage-sama, the DNA tests are ready." The man proceeds to hold out an envelope with a big red _TOP-SECRET_ stamped right across it. The Yondaime accepts it cooly.

"Thank-you, Bear. You may retire for the day."

The ANBU nods graciously, "By your leave, Hokage-sama."

He vanishes in a swirl of leaves.

Namikaze Minato throws his head back with a sigh. He has a feeling that this won't be the best news he's received today. Focusing his chakra, he senses the Hiraishin seal he has implanted on the hospital grounds. With a single pulse of his power, he vanishes, a flash of yellow fading fast in his wake.

* * *

Senju Tsunade has been running Konoha's hospital for nearly two decades now. Ever since her idiot teammate's apprentice became Hokage, things in Konoha had started to change for the better. For one, Tsunade was actually given the power to do what she wanted with the medical system. Jiraiya might be a perverted moron in her eyes, but Namikaze Minato most certainly isn't.

No, Minato is calculating and ruthless. He is a terror on the battlefield, a demon in politics. But most distinctive of all, he does whatever he deems necessary to protect the inhabitants of his village.

Unlike Danzō, he protects people, not an ideal.

_This_ is a Hokage she is completely willing to take orders from.

The beautiful blonde doesn't so much as look up from her stack of paperwork when he flashes into her office. She's had plenty of practice dealing with Jiraiya. There's no way that someone a decade younger could ever even hope to take her by surprise.

"Ah, Minato-kun. Have a seat." She looks up at him expectantly once the pile of paperwork has dwindled appropriately. "I take it that you're here about the DNA test results?"

She's been out of the village on an extended mission to the Land of Lightning for over a month now, having just gotten back a few hours ago, hence why the DNA tests were completed only now. The case is high-profile enough to require her personal attention, after all.

The Yondaime nods curtly. Tsunade offers a shrewd grin. "So, any illegitimate children you want to tell me about?"

The busty Sannin enjoys the view as the famed Yellow Flash reddens and sputters in embarrassment. "W-What?! _No!_" It's obviously just a joke, but it's still ridiculously easy to get him flustered.

She takes a moment to laugh at his expense before she intertwines her fingers and rests her chin on her hands. "Have you even looked at it yet?"

Minato shakes his head with a sigh.

Tsunade snorts at his indecisiveness, "Hand it over then. There's no point in giving it to you if you won't even look at the damn thing."

He wordlessly passes her the sealed envelope. She rips it open and plunders the few papers inside before rapidly scanning the contents.

Minato watches as the Slug Princess suddenly frowns at something on one of the papers. She seems to be going over the same bit of information over and over again, as if trying to make sense of what she's reading. Abruptly, she whitens.

"Minato," she whispers. "Was that Naruko's DNA you gave me?"

He can do nothing but shake his head, unable to tear his gaze from her shaking hands.

"Did you _ever_ have another child?"

He blinks as her voice turns a bit harder. Again, he shakes his head, a bit unprepared for the impromptu interrogation he finds himself in.

Tsunade slams a hand down on her desk without warning, sending papers flying everywhere. Furious golden eyes lock on his own.

"Then explain to me, _Minato_, why this shows the DNA of a boy who could be Naruko's twin."_  
_

Minato struggles to keep his muscles from locking up at the sudden influx of killing intent. He is a kage and has been for a very long time, but Tsunade Senju is not a force to be taken lightly. Belatedly, he remembers that Tsunade and Kushina were distant family and that the woman doted on Naruko whenever she could.

He realizes that it probably wasn't the best idea to tell her about his now least-favorite missing prisoner.

Tsunade's voice is a deadly, venomous hiss. "Do you know what this means?!"

The look on his face makes it clear that he does not.

What comes next makes his blood run cold.

"That _boy_ is an Uzumaki."

He's not ashamed to admit that his first thought was a genetic experiment gone wrong, the prime suspect being Orochimaru. But that man is in a cell, has been for the past decade.

His second thought is that perhaps this boy _is_ his child. But that also seems impossible. He was _there_ for Naruko's birth, and Kushina without a doubt only had one child.

His third thought is wondering how Kushina will react to learning that he'd been keeping a potential relative of hers in a prison for over a week without saying a word to her. His mind plays out a rather painful scenario.

* * *

**Author's Note: **_I felt that making Tsunade close to Kushina and Naruko made sense in the long run._

_As always, feel free to PM me about any questions or concerns._


	6. Chapter 5

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

**A New Dawn**

Chapter 5: The Kyūbi Jinchūriki

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

* * *

Uzumaki Kushina has been a mother for over sixteen years. She has changed countless diapers, cleaned a baby Naruko more times than she cares to remember, and often found herself cuddling her only child to sleep. But she is especially overprotective because she and her child are the last of the Uzumaki blood.

Her entire clan was annihilated during the Third Great Shinobi War in a joint effort of the Hidden Villages of Cloud and Stone.

And yet, there is another reason that the redhead beauty dotes on her daughter a bit more than considered normal—to the Uzumaki, family is everything. Such bonds were more treasured than the most intricate of seals, more potent than the fabled Uzumaki chakra.

After all, love is like a force of nature in of itself.

To outsiders, Kushina coddles Naruko a bit too much, but that's just Kushina's way of making sure that Naruko knows she's loved. She's long since stopped caring about what other people think, and she won't start now.

* * *

Over the years, Kushina and Naruko have become quite close with Senju Tsunade—a distant relative through the legendary Uzumaki Mito. Tsunade would drop by every now and then to check up on little Naruko at Minato's request, then slowly the visits weren't just medical examinations anymore. The Slug Princess would bring toys for the little toddler to play with while she and Kushina would share idle chatter about the going-ons of their lazy village.

Slowly but surely, they forged lifelong bonds of friendship over tea and pastries, even if Tsunade managed to spike her drinks with sake whenever she thought Kushina wasn't looking. The truth was that Kushina _was_ looking, she just didn't really care. So long as the woman kept the stuff away from Naruko, she didn't give a damn.

To Naruko, though, Tsunade was always just "Oba-chan," the nice lady who always brought toys for her to play with. Tsunade didn't really mind being someone's aunt. Sometimes, she actually liked the warm fuzzy feeling in her stomach whenever the little half-pint beamed up at her in a sunny greeting.

* * *

Kushina has been the vessel of the great and terrible Kyūbi no Youko for most of her life, but she has only ever used its chakra twice. She doesn't remember the first time, though, only the aftermath.

It was when she was a newly made chunin. She was on a mission to deliver critical information to a bordering camp during the war with Stone when she was ambushed.

One second she is leaping through the trees and the next she's staring at the bloody stump where her hand used to be. She distinctly rememberes two things; the feeling of falling, and her teammates screaming out her name.

Then everything goes black. When she wakes up, the forest isn't a forest anymore; it's a wasteland. Great towering trees have been reduced to charred stumps of hardened ash. Nearby rivers and streams have run completely dry. The air is choked with black smoke, and the ground glows a cherry red, as if they are in ground zero for the birthing of a volcano.

Absently, she realizes that her hand is back and completely unblemished, almost clean.

But Kushina knows that what happened was anything but clean. When her sensei has to tell her that in a fit of blind rage she slaughtered her own teammates along with the enemy, she doesn't come out of her depression for months. It doesn't help that they won't let her see the bodies.

And yet, she comes out of the hole she'd been hiding in to care for her sensei's son when the man dies. The Uzumaki take care of their own, and even if the Hatake aren't related by blood, the silver-haired warrior is the closest thing she has to a father in Konoha. Konoha's inhabitants quickly learn not to insult Sakumo within fifty yards of Kushina. For that, Kakashi is forever grateful, even if he'll never admit it to her.

The second time she remembers vividly. Like the first, it was in the middle of the battlefield where emotions tended to run wild and out of control. She and Minato had been doing border patrol on the front lines when they stumbled on a ragged force of Stone nin going to opposite direction. The two groups stop and stare at each other.

Then one of the men from Iwa mutters a snort about how he couldn't believe they'd managed to miss one. Evidently, they've been out of action for a while because they actually don't recognize the Yellow Flash when he steps right in front of them. Minato politely asks them what they mean, a sharp undertone in his voice. The nin proceeds to brag about how together, Stone and Cloud had managed to completely destroy Uzushiogakure.

It takes a full minute for the words to register in before one clear though finally filtered through.

_'Uzushio . . . they destroyed it. Th__**e**__y d__**est**__ro__**yed it!'**_

Kushina sees red, but this time she _remembers._ She remembers her hand burying into the gloating Stone nin's chest and ripping out his still-beating heart. She remembers the looks of utter terror on the faces of the man's comrades as she allows his body to fall to the floor with a sickening thwack. Had she been able to see herself, she would have witnessed as a cloak of bubbling red vile chakra shrouded her with a sinister power.

_Taloned hands are reaching._

One of the Stone nin wets himself as he completely loses control over his body.

Uzumaki Kushina does not pause or hesitate. These are the people who slaughtered her own.

The agonized screams can be heard for miles until they are abruptly silenced.

Years later, she is somewhat glad that she can remember that moment so perfectly. Revenge brings no one back from the dead, but at least her family's souls can rest a little easier now.

The one thing she regrets, though, is lashing out at Minato when he tries to calm her down. He still has the scar from where she tore a gash through his chest, three angry red grooves that rend through his skin.

* * *

In the present day, Kushina honestly doesn't know what to make of the situation when Tsunade drags her pale-faced husband through the door with a firm grip on his ear. When the medic proceeds to tell her exactly _why_, she decides that she and Minato are going to have a very long talk.

* * *

**Author's Note:** _As always, feel free to PM me._


	7. Chapter 6

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

* * *

**A New Dawn**

Chapter 6: Of Stammered Explanations and Confusing Confrontations

* * *

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

* * *

Minato has been Hokage for a total of nineteen years, but he isn't ashamed to admit that the thing he fears most is his wife when she's angry.

Kushina is a force to be reckoned with.

In fact, he's terrified enough to have spent time categorizing her rage.

There are three specific types of anger.

The first is the loud kind where she is usually prone to fits of violence and hurling loud insults at anything that manages to earn her ire. Minato has learned to handle it through careful manipulation and sly flattery. It works most of the time.

The second type of anger, however, is something that Minato has never quite learned how to handle. The ear-splitting screams of rage he can tolerate, but it's this deadly silence that truly sends shivers up his spine. Whenever Kushina is quiet, everything seems to turn into a disaster. Windows crack, mirrors shatter, and black cats are suddenly _everywhere._ This type of rage is more reminiscent of divine wrath than anything Minato has ever known.

He can't stop his heart from racing.

Why?

She's quiet _right now._

Minato has to visibly restrain himself from bolting he explains about the escaped prisoner who might as well be Naruko's twin brother. That look in her eyes threatens to set him ablaze as he tells her why he chose to keep the existence of another Uzumaki secret from her. He gulps as the cup of tea she's been holding abruptly shatters in her grip, spilling the hot drink everywhere.

Kushina doesn't so much as glance as it. Her jaw tightens in a silent demand for him to continue speaking.

Minato is coming close to flashing the hell out of there before rage category two can transform into the positively _demonic_ category three.

* * *

Naruto has escaped that wretched stink-hole of a prison at last . . . only to realize that he has no clue where to go. Was there anywhere _worth_ going in a fake world? His parents are alive here, but they weren't _his_ parents. He wanted nothing to do with this mockery of his father. The man had died a hero, and to see this clone of his standing there so casually . . . it made Naruto want to rip off his head.

Words cannot describe the rage that Naruto felt when he saw that . . . _shadow_ walk in through the door of his cell. At that moment, he decided that he hates this fake world and that he utterly _loathes_ Obito for making it and for making everyone's sacrifices seem like nothing.

Obito . . . The one man that even _Naruto_ is willing to kill. Not just willing to kill, _aching_ to kill, _dying _to kill.

But first he has to break out of this world. The poor boy doesn't even know where to start. Nothing he's tried has worked so far.

**_Naruto, stop running. You've already made it out of Fire Country._**

_What the—?!_

Naruto stumbles to a stop, hastily balancing himself on the branch of a large tree. Pausing for a moment to take stock of his surroundings, he stares. The woods here are less dense than in Konoha. Younger, too. He can see dirt roads in the distance and taste salt in the air.

More than that, he _knows _this place. Wave. He's in Wave.

Fake or not, Naruto decides that he should be able to convince Tazuna and Inari to let him stay the night.

* * *

**Author's Note: **_So, I know these chapters are painfully short, but bare with me here. :P_

_Also! I'm recommending an author, not a story. Check out anything by Ser Serendipity at the FanFiction link u/4945446/Ser-Serendipity__._

_His fight scenes are _gorgeous_. He has two active stories right now, and both of them are works of art, so take your pick._


	8. Chapter 7

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

* * *

**A New Dawn**

Chapter 7: Far, Far Worse Than Before

* * *

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

* * *

When Naruto walks into Wave, he is expecting to see a grand bridge with his name on it and a thriving economy. He is expecting to see an older Inari happily working with his grandfather, diligently learning how to be a carpenter.

But what greets his eyes is a bandit town.

Houses are overrun with thugs.

Children are nowhere to be seen.

There are hundreds of graves, most of them built for men, but over thirty build for someone a third of the size.

Women weep openly at their fate, only to be beaten by the men who hold them captive. All of them are bruised, battered, and covered with filth. Shackles adorn their legs and burn marks on their arms openly brand them as slaves.

Naruto's jaw clenches and his eyes _burn_. Kurama is silent as he feels the rage of his vessel erupt into a raging inferno. Without any prompting, the great nine-tailed fox melds its strength with Naruto's.

Twenty-six minutes later, every single bandit has been obliterated by a man cloaked in golden light. They lay haphazardly through the streets, unseeing eyes staring up at the sky. The women are fearful of him at first, but after he dispels the light and reassures them that he's human and that he wants to help them, they throw themselves into his arms and sob.

* * *

It takes Naruto a full day to find Tsunami. She had been held captive in the town's only inn, forced to do the cooking and cleaning. Compared to many of the others, she got off easy, but Naruto still flinches at the soullessness in her eyes.

He realizes instantly that she is changed from the kind woman who in another world welcomed him into her home. This woman has lost her will to live. And Naruto knows that nothing he says can make it batter.

Gently, he leads her back to her house. They don't speak a word to one another the entire way.

Naruto doesn't have to ask her to know what happened to Inari and Tazuna. There are more graves than he can count, enough to make him wish that he had killed those bandits a bit more slowly.

* * *

The resident ANBU Captain Uchiha Sasuke starts slightly along with the Commander, Uchiha Itachi, when the doors to the headquarters slam open. They blink in unison when the Hokage's wife storms in and stops right in front of Itachi's desk.

She slaps a piece of paper in front of him. "I need two teams of ANBU under my direct command immediately."

Itachi busies himself with with the document.

Sasuke's brows furrow in confusion, but it is the expressionless Itachi who asks, "And for what purpose do you request these shinobi?" His tone is strangely strained.

"I'm looking for someone," comes the immediate reply.

Itachi looks at her impassively, as if searching for the real reason, but Kushina doesn't back down. If anything, the fire in her eyes grows _stronger_. Ultimately, Itachi bows his head.

"It will be done. Sasuke will head the team that will serve under you. You can have them for two weeks, but no more. Konoha cannot afford the loss of eight ANBU for any longer than that."

Kushina nods graciously, "Thank you, Itachi-kun."

Just as she turns to leave, she glances at the youngest Uchiha in the room. "Sasuke, you should probably talk to Naruko. She's been whining lately about not seeing you."

Kushina stays just long enough to enjoy the a blush that would put tomatoes to shame spread across Sasuke's face. The corner of Itachi's mouth twitches in a ghost of a smile.

* * *

Sasuke stares at his brother long after his aunt in all but blood left the room. Itachi is occupying himself with the piece of paper that the woman left behind.

"Brother?"

"Yes, Sasuke?" Itachi doesn't so much as glance up. Inwardly, Sasuke sighs. His brother is a bit challenged when it comes to properly reading the atmosphere. Not as bad as Sai, but still, pretty awful. It's more than a bit ridiculous, considering that he's an unparalleled genius.

Sasuke grimaces at the reminder of his inadequacy.

"What's on the paper?" he decides to ask.

Itachi pauses a moment before holding said document up for his little brother to read.

Sasuke almost faceplants at the contents.

_Itachi-kun, if you don't give me what I want right now, I swear to you that I'll start helping your mother try to find you a wife. Not that you aren't old enough or anything. You're 22, aren't you? Have you started looking for any girls yet? Are they cute? Do I know them? Ooh! Are they shinobi? Kyaaaa~! My little Itachi-kun all grown up and finding his own woman and—_

Sasuke stops reading for his own sanity. Aunt Kushina can be just as weird as Naruko sometimes. Speaking of Naruko, he's supposed to meet her at Ichiraku's later today . . .

He looks pityingly at his older brother. "I can understand why you were so willing to give her the ANBU squads."

Itachi lets out a long-suffering sigh, the most emotion he's shown all day. "Indeed. I can't avoid the marriage forever, but I _can_ do my best to delay mother's efforts." In his mind's eye, he sees the image of a chibi Kushina and Mikoto plotting to get a poor, innocent Itachi to tie the knot. The image cuts off as explosions in the background make everything blur.

Itachi shudders. _Those two working together would be disaster in the making._

Then he turns a critical eye towards Sasuke. "Don't think you've been let off the hook. The only reason that you aren't being pestered by mother and Aunt Kushina is because you're pretty much set with Naru—"

Sasuke abruptly abandons the room in favor of not hearing the rest of that sentence. Colorful leaves swirl to the ground as the aftermath of his shunshin.

Itachi smiles brightly this time, a spectacle that few ever witness. Eyes crinkling in amusement, he leans back in his chair. "Foolish little brother."

He absently wishes that he could have poked Sasuke's forehead.

* * *

Naruko is very annoyed while she slurps her ramen.

This makes people stop and stare, because Naruko is _never_ annoyed while slurping ramen. The two images just don't mix.

Ramen is calming and pure, and to see Naruko annoyed while in the process of consuming it probably signals the beginning of the Apocalypse.

Just as people are beginning to whisper about what could be going wrong, Uchiha Sasuke shunshins into the stool next to Naruko with his face aflame. He refuses to look at her while Teuchi takes his order.

"I'll just have the beef this time."

The old man nods before he goes into the back to get the necessary ingredients.

The Uchiha turns to find his blonde teammate ready to spit fire. She explodes, "YOU'RE AN HOUR LATE, BASTARD!" The last part is merely tacked on for good measure, a tradition of sorts.

Sasuke winces at her volume as the last of the red in his cheeks retreats. Her yelling at him often has that effect.

He calmly retorts, "Blame your mother. She held Itachi and I up back at the ANBU headquarters." A blatant lie, but Naruko was never the most observant of people.

The blonde girl suddenly loses all traces of her previous ire as her curiosity spikes. "What did she want? Tell me, Sasuke!"

Sasuke's eye begins to twitch as she starts to tug incessantly on his sleeves. He does nothing, though; trying to make an Uzumaki do anything is a lost cause.

"She requested two teams of ANBU which will be led by me for a total of two weeks to _'find someone'_, as she put it."

Naruko's pretty blue eyes scrunch up with thought, then they dawn with understanding. Just a few days ago, that really strong guy had escaped from her dad's super-secret-but-she-still-knew-about-it-anyway underground prison. What really stood out in the memory though was when he had to tell her mom. Naruko didn't hear most of that conversation, but it was pretty damn funny to watch.

Then her eyes widen as she comes across an absolutely brilliant idea, probably because she's basking in the glorious power of ramen. If she thinks of an idea while eating ramen, there's no way that the idea isn't just plain awesome . . . Exhibit A of why back when they were in their prime, everyone avoided the Uzumaki. Few could deal with the medically insane and even fewer when said insane people were fuinjutsu masters.

There was a saying that went screw with the Uzumaki and they screw you royally. And possibly more than once. Creatively, too. It was a long saying.

Naruko licks her bowl once she has drained it of the soup and leans back in her stool with a contented sigh. "Ahh, that hits the spot. So when do we leave?"

Sasuke stiffens as he looked at the girl in a panic. "_We?_"

Naruko nods like she's delivering fantastic news. "Totally! I'm coming with you, 'ttebayo!"

Sasuke has to resist the urge to bang his head against the counter of the ramen stand. He figures (correctly) that Teuchi won't appreciate that.

* * *

**Author's Note:** _As always, feel free to PM me.  
_

_Here are some more authors you should check out: Blaizekit, PyrothTenka_


	9. Chapter 8

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

* * *

**A New Dawn**

Chapter 8: Departure

* * *

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

Sasuke's movements are rigid and stressed as he sprints towards the village gates. Normally he would be calm and collected, but the object of his ire is screaming into his ears.

"Oi, Sasuke! Quit ignoring me!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and merely ups his speed, eliciting a yelp of protest from his pursuer.

"Get _back_ here, bastard! You can't leave without me!"

Sasuke doesn't stop sprinting across the rooftops as he glares over his shoulder. "You haven't even been assigned to this mission! You _can't_ come!"

"My mom's leading this mission and my dad's the Hokage!"

"You're not even in ANBU!"

"SO?!"

Naruko's lower ranking is a bit of a sore spot for her.

"I'm TWICE as good as you, bastard!"

Okay, more than a bit.

Sasuke turns his attention back to the front with a sigh, "Why do I even bother?"

Naruko must have heard, because she shouts back, "You know you love me anyway!"

He almost trips while his face does the perfect impression of a ripe tomato. Naruko laughs at his expense while she whizzes right past him to the village gates. Sasuke growls and races to catch up. Who knows what she'd do without him there.

Inwardly, though, he laments the fact that he's not stuck with one Uzumaki, but _two_.

Naruko and Kushina.

The two loudest kunoichi in Konoha. Possibly the entire world.

It makes him want to curl up into a ball. But he is a dignified Uchiha, and dignified Uchiha do not curl up in sorrow, no matter how justified they may be.

* * *

Kushina is getting impatient. With every passing minute, Minato's Uzumaki minnie-me will be harder to find. Seven ANBU are present at the gates, all of them waiting silently for new orders. Young Sasuke is the only one missing, and Kushina decides to rip him a new one for being like his sensei as soon as he shows up.

She blinks when a blur of orange and blue slams down right in front of her, kicking up a storm of dust in the process. Kushina nearly squeals in delight when the dust clears enough for her to see what it is.

Naruko and Sasuke are actively grappling with one another, their positions easily mistakable for an entirely different activity.

"You're not coming!"

"Yes I am!"

"No," Sasuke says as he forces himself up and with an impressive display of coordination pins Naruko to the ground by her shoulders, "You're not." He narrows his eyes at her, _daring_ her to say otherwise.

Naruko's blue eyes sparkle as she pouts at him, and Kushina sees Sasuke's resolve begin to falter under her daughter's practiced gaze. The woman decides to save the poor boy from a potentially embarrassing situation.

"You two are adorable, ya know!"

Or not. Oh, who's she kidding? Embarrassing those two is her _job_.

The teens take one look at their position and scramble away from each other as fast as they can, their faces practically on fire.

Kushina coos with the tone that only a mother can achieve, "So when can Mikoto-chan and I expect grandchildren?"

Some of the ANBU are having a tough time containing their laughter. If possible, Naruko's face gets even redder while Sasuke opts for just donning his Hawk ANBU mask to hide his embarrassment.

It only takes Naruko seconds to erupt with a scandalized cry of, "MOM!"

Kushina only laughs. She lives for moments like this.

* * *

Naruto has been feeling off for a full week now, but today his body is literally burning from the inside. He groans and sweats in his bed as the recovered Tsunami worries over the health of her rescuer.

Naruto barely manages to crack open an eyelid and grin, "Heh, I'm fine Tsunami oba-chan. This is—" He pauses to cough violently. When he looks up again, his smile is a bit less sincere and crimson runs down from the corner of his mouth. "This is nothing for a guy like me. I'll beat this cold like I beat those bandits."

_So please, believe in me._

Tsunami's answering smile is skeptical and worried as she gently coaxes the teenager back into bed and goes to get him some food. He's only been getting worse for a while now. She can't quite quell the growing feeling of dread that has been building in the pit of her stomach, the same feeling that she got before Gatō swooped in to destroy her life and family.

Regardless, she carefully prepares some herbal tea in the hopes that Naruto will benefit from its effects. She flinches when the cup cracks.

The winds of fate roil restlessly.

* * *

They dance through the trees, running across branches and leaping through leaves.

Kushina glances sharply behind her. Naruko and Sasuke are doing fine, but one of the ANBU is starting to lag. Kushina merely turns and keeps going: she can't afford to stop. The ANBU will just have to rest and catch up with the group later.

Her eyes are firmly fixed ahead.

One of the advanced sensors leads the way with ease, claiming to be following a trail of pure chakra.

Kushina doesn't know how that's possible, but she doesn't question it.

* * *

The women gather at Tsunami's house that night. Word had spread that their savior had fallen deathly ill, and all of them wanted to help however they could. Those who had knowledge of herbs and healing set to work with cleaning Naruto up, dabbing his face with a wet towel to counter his fever while some of them made to gather the medicinal plants from the surrounding forest.

A team of six brew a stew specially made for him to drink while the rest simply do the chores around the rest of the house. There aren't many of them left anymore, only a total of fifty. Amongst themselves, they had decided that it would be best for them to stay together in one place. Tsunami had graciously offered her home, saying that the house was far too big for her alone.

None could argue with the reasoning behind the suggestion. A few had broken down crying again, remembering the families that they had lost, but this time, they aren't shackled and beaten. This time, they are allowed to comfort one another.

And this time, they have a boy to bring from the brink of death. He is sweating profusely and he has just started to vomit whatever they try to feed him. His skin is deathly pale had his breathing his harsh and labored. It's all he can do to keep himself awake, and it's all they can do not to scream in frustration when nothing they try on him works.

They begin to panic when his congested coughs yield blood.

* * *

Inside a certain seal, a great and powerful beast shifts restlessly in its cage. Red eyes narrows in apprehension.

This feeling is unnatural, _alien_. Death's scythe is pressed as firmly to his throat as it is to Naruto's, and Kurama doesn't have the slightest idea as to why. This sickness came out of nowhere like a whirlwind, effectively grounding Naruto and rendering him helpless. None of the Kyūbi chakra helps, not even when Kurama makes a conscious effort to direct it in purging his vessel's frail human form.

But then, suddenly, he realizes that he has used too much.

The cage shakes and the lighting flickers as Naruto's body violently rejects the dense foreign chakra that has been shoved into its system.

Kurama stares helplessly as his only friend writhes in agony.

* * *

***_One Day Later_***

Uzumaki Kushina and her force of Leaf ninja ready their weapons in front of a small house that seems to be filled with nothing but women. They all look to be civilians, but better safe than sorry.

The women shriek and struggle, but in the end, they are all bound and corralled by Crocodile—a lean, muscular man—while the rest of the team heads into the house through the doors and open windows.

After clearing room after room of women, they finally find the one place that the inhabitants are actually trying to _guard_. Kitchen-ware and rusty knives are held shakily in inexperienced hands. Feminine faces are hardened with resolve. Sasuke blinks; never before has he seen such determination and bravery from any civilian.

But what they're hiding is obvious.

Raising a hand to activate his microphone, he reports, "This is ANBU Captain Hawk. I believe I've found where our escapee is staying, although the inhabitants appear to be trying to protect him."

It takes a moment for Kushina to respond.

_"Message received. Do not engage. Naruko and I will arrive in twenty seconds. Crocodile is leading the others in securing the perimeter."_

Sasuke nods, even though he knows that his godmother won't be able to see him. "Understood. I'll be on standby until your arrival."

* * *

\


	10. Chapter 9

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

* * *

**A New Dawn**

Chapter 9: Falling Apart

* * *

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

_Naruto retires on account of a devastating fever for an entire week, but he wakes with the strength of ten-thousand lions at his beck and call. He rises as the Kyūbi Jinchūriki, and he will lay waste to all who attack those he has decided to protect._

The door does very little to conceal the noises from outside. Women are yelling at something to go away, but whatever it is doesn't bother to respond. As the seconds roll by, the voices only grow more and more panicked until they are literally screaming with terror.

Bloodshot red eyes snap open when they abruptly fall silent. Slowly, he rises from his bed.

Uzumaki Naruto instinctively tenses his weakened muscles as the door slides open. Words cannot describe the utter _shock_ when he sees Uchiha Sasuke standing over the limp forms of the women he'd rescued the week prior.

Naruto sees the other two ninja in the background, but he doesn't _see_ them. He only sees the Uchiha whose eyes swirl in a deadly crimson dance. The Uchiha who is standing over the bodies of the women under his protection.

The _invader_.

Naruto's vision goes red.

Sasuke or not, that man is dead meat.

* * *

Sasuke has just finished casting his Sharingan-based genjutsu on the last of the women when Kushina-oba-san and Naruko shunshin into the hallway with a swirl of leaves. The two women look at the bodies scattered across the floor, and Naruko reaches down to check the pulse of the one next to her.

"Just unconscious," she confirms.

Kushina nods in relief. "Good. We don't want anyone to _die_." She looks pointedly at Sasuke who has the nerve to seem affronted after being in ANBU for so long. "Sasuke-kun, open that door, will ya'?"

He inclines his head in deference to her greater rank, then he moves to do as she commands. When he slides the door to the side as Kushina and Naruko ready a sword and kunai respectively, the temperature plummets and the air turns to syrup.

An oppressive force squeezes Sasuke's heart as he struggles to stay standing. With a grunt of effort, he dispels the miasma of darkness that has enshrouded him and his Sharingan blaze to life. Then he stares into the blackness of the room in front of him while Kushina and Naruko work to cast off the killing-intent around them as well.

For a moment, he only sees darkness, but then—

_If you stare into the abyss long enough, something will stare back._

—red eyes gleam in the darkness. They flicker from Sasuke to the bodies strewn at his feet, and Sasuke can't help but shiver when the eyes _burn_.

Ice floods his veins as a guttural growl rumbles through the air.

Sasuke knows the target supposedly isn't human, but this is just insane!

_A blur._

Without warning, stars burst across his vision as something bright and golden slams straight into his face, sending him crashing into the ground. Not even his Sharingan could see what just happened. Whatever that was, it had speed on par with the Fourth.

His thoughts are dark and murky, and his mind sluggish and growing tired.

The lasting he hears is Naruko screaming his name, then his awareness drifts into Oblivion.

* * *

The fever has affected Naruto badly. It twists his mind and corrupts his thoughts. Right now, everyone he sees is an enemy, and he takes pleasure as the Uchiha's forehead snaps back in response to a chakra-enhanced haymaker.

But a loud, ear-splitting scream pierces his mind as the Uchiha falls into a crumpled heap. "SASUKE!"

Naruto's head snaps up, red eyes wild and bloodshot. He falls onto all fours and growls with a primal timbre to his voice as a blonde woman races towards the Uchiha's limp form and tows him to safety. However, his attention is fixated on the silent redhead in the middle of the hallway. She stands there motionlessly, sword in hand and armor strapped to her chest and limbs.

Something about her seems familiar, almost as if he met her in a dream. Violet eyes stare back at him with unbridled awe as she looks upon his light-infused body. They widen when they catch sight of his face, almost as if in recognition.

Naruto frowns. He can't tell why this strange woman is staring at him like that, but he does realize one thing: these people are invaders, and they have harmed those under his protection. Such a thing cannot be allowed to stand.

With a deep guttural growl, he advances, calling upon the full power of the great demon sealed within him.

The very air burns when he roars.

* * *

Kushina doesn't so much as move when the monster in front of her roars. She's not nearly as affected as Naruko and Sasuke because _she_ is intimately familiar with this monstrous rage, this consuming fury.

This boy burns with the vengeance of the Kyūbi no Yōko.

It should be impossible, and yet it is undeniable. The energy bound within her own body thrums in response as the boy's body burns in that brilliant golden flame. His eyes are the eyes of the great demon fox, and his teeth are wickedly sharp.

The most telling detail is the fact that the fox locked within her howls with rage as he feels his own chakra outside of his cage responding to someone else's will.

**_"You wretched impostor! I'll rip your flesh from your bones and crush your skull!"_**

That's what convinces Kushina that the boy doesn't just have the Kyūbi's chakra—he has another Kyūbi entirely.

The Uzumaki are prone to making leaps of faith with their logic, but this one happens to be right.

It's all she can do to dodge as he barrels past her with an animalistic snarl. But she isn't an elite jōnin of Konoha for no reason. Time seems to slow, and with a snap, one of Kushina's chakra-chains wraps around his ankles. The boy looks to her in confusion before he's wrenched completely off of his feet. His confusion turns to frustration as his golden chakra-cloak fails to break the chain.

Yet, Kushina knows it will not be enough. The links are staining, beginning to bend under the stress. She could simply end the fight with a vicious squeeze, but she's here because the boy is family. The last thing she wants to do is hurt him.

She glances behind herself sharply. "Naruko! I need help!"

Her daughter scrambles to her assistance, and within seconds the boy has been covered from head to toe in glowing chakra-chains from both mother and daughter. He thrashes and struggles, but slowly his light begins to recede.

Kushina's chakra and Naruko's are both specifically tuned to deal with the Nine-Tailed Fox, and this boy can be effectively restrained if he is using _its_ power. The chakra-chains are their trump cards here.

The fight is long, and the boy's strength is _demonic_. He rages against the restraints with ungodly power, his every move inducing the alarming sound of snapping chains. Fortunately, Kushina and Naruko have the chakra for more.

Eventually, the boy's eyes are sky-blue and utterly bewildered as he finds himself tied up and hanging upside-down.

He freezes when he catches sight of her and whispers, "Mom?"

Violet eyes widen in shock.

* * *

_Even the most tempered steel will bend and break under the right circumstances._

Kushina drops him.

"Ow!"

What?! What's she _supposed_ to do when her little Uzumaki-Minato-lookalike calls her _mom?! _She's freaking out, here!

**_"Kill him! Kill him now!"_**

_'Shut it, fuzzball! This is a really bad time, 'ttebane!'_

**_"LISTEN TO ME YOU MISERABLE LITTLE—"_**

The fox's rants fall on deaf ears as Kushina severs the mental link.

"Stupid fuzzball," she mutters. As if she would listen to anything _it_ said! She looks up muffled groan captures her attention.

Kushina blinks as the Uzumaki escapee is suddenly plowed into the floor, courtesy of Naruko's fist. "That's for Sasuke, bastard!" Apparently, Naruko is completely unfazed that their opponent looks exactly like her, but male. That or she hasn't noticed at all. Probably the latter, though. Naruko's observation skills are abysmal. In any case, the blonde marches straight back over to the Uchiha to try and revive him. Kushina can't help but wince at the fist-shaped indent on the side of Sasuke's face.

That's unfortunate. A mild concussion seems like an inevitability now.

A retching noise turns Kushina's attention back to the Uzumaki.

The boy—and now that she looks closer, she realizes that he's almost _exactly_ like Minato—rolls onto his side and spits out a mouthful of blood.

"Uuggh, I feel so siiiiick." He proceeds the vomit all over the floor. The vile smell shrouds the entire room in a miasma.

Naruko and the newly awakened Sasuke gag violently before fleeing the room, the Uchiha clutching at his face where the other teenager had decked him.

All the while the prisoner groans and whines his many woes.

Kushina's eyebrow twitches, but it's an involuntary action. It's because remembers that exact same whine from Naruko's childhood.

_Kaa-chan, I'm siiiiiiick!_

_Kaa-chan, I want raaaaamen!_

_Kaa-chan, I don't wanna take a bath!_

_Kaa-chan, I don't wanna get up!_

_Kaa-chan, Kaa-chan, Kaa-chan!_

Let it be known that patience is not the Uzumakis' strong-suit.

"Quiet, 'ttebane!" Kushina's fist comes down hard on the poor blond's head.

He's out like a light.

Kushina suddenly realizes what she's just done.

"Aww, dang it!"

* * *

As soon as Kushina is absolutely sure that the occupants of the house are only civilian women, she releases them with a multitude of apologies for her team's intrusion.

A woman glares in her direction. "Good-for-nothing shinobi," she mutters. "First that Zabuza character, then _you_." Undercurrents of loathing lace her tone.

Kushina winces, but says nothing. They have every right to hate her after what she just pulled. Home intrusions are never taken lightly.

"Yeah! You barge into our home then attack the poor boy who saved us?! What kind of monsters would do such a thing?!"

Kushina wilts as the barbs increase and the condemnations grow louder and louder. It seems as though the small mob is about to attack when a pretty dark-haired woman walks into the room. Kushina remembers her as one of the women who was guarding—or trying to guard—the hallway leading to the room where Minato's mini-me is staying.

"Tsunami-san, are you alright?" The crowd falls silent as the women all wait to hear what she has to say.

A soft, gentle smile puts everyone at ease. Kushina watches the woman carefully as she speaks. "It's alright, these Konoha shinobi have agreed not to harm us if we cooperate."

It doesn't take the women long to pinpoint the loophole. "What about Naruto?" one of them shouts.

Kushina finches at the name. Minato had told her already about the prisoner being an Uzumaki, but _that name_ was far more than a coincidence. Naruto and Naruko, so similar in appearance, names near copies of one another. Kushina's mind races as she begins making obscure connections in her head.

The following empty threats and demands are overwhelming, but Kushina stands firm. Mostly because she's only half paying attention.

Kushina clears her throat once she's sure she has everyone's attention. "Naruto is actually family of mine. _That's_ why I want him to come with me."

"You had to invade our home for that? How do we know you're not lying? And why was Naruto just wandering around in the first place?"

A flinch at the name again. "It's a bit complicated..." Kushina smiles in embarrassment. "You see, he doesn't actually _know_ that he's a part of my family, and we just discovered his existence."

The truth couldn't hurt now, right?

The crowd gapes at the claim.

"So... we'll be taking him back tomorrow?"

Instant pandemonium.

"You can't do that!"

"Who would believe that ridiculous lie?!"

"Who do you think you are?!"

One of the woman, in a bout of reckless anger, rushes forward to slap the kunoichi who speaks to them with such dismissal.

She falls three feet short of her target. Her legs lock up and collapse, and all of her effort is focused on trying to breathe, because she's suddenly floundering in a sea of murderous fury.

Gasping, she looks up.

Kushina's expression hasn't changed in the slightest. In fact, she's smiling pleasantly.

"See, the thing is . . . I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name." There are whispery undertones of malice in that sickly sweet voice.

She leans down as the civilian struggles to choke out an answer. All of the women in the room are too terrified to even move.

Kushina blinks, and her smile grows a bit wider. "I'm sorry, what was that again?"

A trembling voice threatened to break into sobs with every syllable. "M-Michiko."

Kushina straightens and turns around to pace in front of the mob she has so successfully cowed.

"You see, _Michiko-san_, I have no intention of harming any of you." The women gasp and whimper as the windows crack and the skies darken. There was no sign of a thunderstorm mere minutes ago.

"But if any of you move against me or my team . . ." More than one of the civilians collapses as they find themselves staring into eyes with slits for pupils, eyes that were completely normal just an instant before.

The winds rip through the air like it's paper.

"If you touch a single hair on any of their heads . . ."

There is a pulse of hellish power like thunder without sound.

Without warning, the pressure in the room vanishes, and Kushina's eyes are human once more. They widen in horror at the _fear_ in the women's faces.

Kushina is strong-willed and stronger of spirit, but this is something she never could handle. This utter _loathing._

She turns and runs.

Even after she's gone, no one moves for an entire three hours. Michiko finds that she is unable to speak for the rest of the week.

* * *

Kushina slumps against a wall around a day later. Dammit, she had never meant to use _its_ power, it had just slipped out.

Her hands are buried in her long, red hair as she massages her head.

_'Crap, I should've known better!"_

She had actually used _its_ energy to intimidate _civilians_. What would Mito baa-sama say?

**_"Who cares what she would have said? That wench died tr**_—"_**_**

_'Shut up!'_

Kushina slams a fist into the floor, and the connection between them is severed like its been sliced through with her sword.

"Dammit!" Tears are leaking from her eyes. She hates the way those women had looked at her, eyes full of fear and loathing. "Dammit, why can't I control you like she could?"

She hates that someone looked at her like that _again . . ._

It takes her six minutes to school her unruly emotions. She is a proud shinobi of Konoha, wife of the Yondaime, the woman who had _earned_ the title of Red-Hot Habanero, and the last of the pure-blooded Uzumaki royalty. She is better than this. She is _better _than this.

That beast will _not_ gain control of her.

She sits there silently as the shadows from the window creep across the room to announce the break of dawn.

Kushina looks up though when she hears sheets rustling.

Bright blond hair peeks over white sheets. "Ugh, my heeeaaad." The sheets move a bit.

She can't help but wince at the injury she caused. Nevertheless, she curiously walks over to his bedside and pokes. "Are you finally awake, sleepyhead?"

The lump with yellow hair just rolls over. "Five more minutes."

Kushina forgets herself as she's immersed in a familiar argument, one that she had engaged in many times with Naruko.

"No, _not_ 'five more minutes'. Come on."

The boy clutches at his blanket tighter. "Noooo. 'Ruka-sensei's giving us a test todaaaay."

Kushina isn't really paying attention to what he's saying. "Doesn't matter. You still have to _get up._" The poor boy yelps as Kushina rips the blankets right out from under him, sending him sprawling on the floor.

But in the end, he's the one laughing last. Kushina's temple throbs as the boy starts snoring where she dropped him.

"Oh, for crying out loud!" She storms up to him and violently starts to shake him.

Bright blue eyes crack open. As soon as they catch sight of the angry Kushina, they widen dramatically as the boy says the first thing that comes to mind.

"Kaaa-aaa-aaa-chaaa-aaa-aaan?!" Kushina realizes that his answer is gibberish because she's shaking him like a rag-doll. The Uzumaki woman proceeds to drop him.

His blue eyes are even wider than before. He rubs them and looks back at her, as if to be sure of what he's seeing. "You're . . . _alive?!_"

Kushina was expecting a lot of things when this one finally woke up, but she wasn't expecting that. "Excuse me?" she _asks_, red eyebrow raising.

To her annoyance, the boy's—_Naruto's_—expression never shifts from incredulous awe.

"B-But, but, you! And the Kyūbi! And—"

Kushina can't stop herself from grimacing at his mention of the monster sealed away within her.

"—you helped me beat it, and then you told me you loved me and that tou-san did too and . . ."

She watches carefully as the boy pauses to take a much needed breath.

"_How?!_" he concludes, chest heaving and eyes slightly puffy.

"Well," she begins, "maybe we can start with you telling me why you think I'm you're kaa-chan."

Naruto's eyes widen in shock and hurt. "What are you—oh. _Oh . . ._"

Shadows cover his eyes and his body starts to shake. "Damn it. _Damn it!_"

Kushina prudently reaches for the sword hilt above her shoulder. He called her 'Kaa-chan' and he's an Uzumaki, but she doesn't mean that she would let her guard down, especially after seeing the way he could fight.

His hands are trembling and his mouth is opening and closing, but nothing comes out.

When he looks up, she can see nothing but rage and pain.

_So much pain._

Her hand falls away.

"You aren't real! None of you are real!" His cries of denial grow heartbreaking as angry tears stream down his face.

Acting on some motherly instinct, Kushina kneels and pulls the screaming boy into a hug. She holds him like that as everyone in the house, including her ANBU team, Naruko, and Sasuke come to see what's going on.

All the while, she whispers soothingly in his ear and rubs his back, just like she had once done for Naruko so long ago.

Slowly, his screams reduce to choked sobs.

* * *

**Author's Note: **_Well, looks like that's it for the rewrite. It's all new material from here on out._

Anyway, there's something else I'd like to talk about.

_As some of you may know, I'm in a writer's group (which is completely made up by all those involved) with PyrothTenka, Ekusukallybaa, Blaizekit, cael05, Igornerd, and Ser Serendipity. The reason I'm telling you this is because we've decided to do an RP. I'm of the firm opinion that it's pretty damn cool, especially since none of us have the same writing style._

Background: The fabric of space and time is crumbling under some unknown force and characters from different realities are finding themselves transported to the one dimension that spawned them all.

_We've also set up a chat room so that you can contact all of us at once, should you so desire. In any case, here are the FanFiction links:_

Contact Us Here:

topic/151208/109739641/1/Chat

Suscribe to (and read) our RP here:

topic/151208/109871904/1/


	11. Chapter 10

**Beta's:** _Thanks to my long-time beta Infamous Storm and to the AAC (Awesome Author's Coalition) for taking a look at this chapter._

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

* * *

**A New Dawn**

Chapter 10: Enlightenment

* * *

"_Who_ is he again?"

"An Uzumaki, apparently," Sasuke replies as he idly twirls some shuriken between his fingers—an old habit he'd picked up from Itachi.

Naruko frowns at the sight of her mother fussing over a bedridden blond, her lip jutting out in an adorable pout. She leans against the wall opposite to the prisoner's room.

"I don't like him," she huffs, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes.

Her male companion glances over in amusement. "You're just jealous."

A gasp of outrage. "I am _not!_"

A push, a shove, and soon the two are playfully grappling with one another.

* * *

Uzumaki Kushina has had quite the day so far.

First is the mother of all surprises: the Uzumaki she's been tracking is a _jinchūriki_.

And surprise, surprise, he's the _Kyūbi_ jinchūriki! As if the universe needs to make less sense . . . She can already feel the migraine coming on.

Then she'd gotten into a tense situation with the remaining Wave residents. Normally she could handle something like that with ease, but the Kyūbi was particularly agitated that day, having felt his own chakra being used by someone else a mere few hours ago.

In retrospect, she shouldn't have been surprised that a portion of its natural malice had seeped through its prison.

That didn't change the fact that threatening innocent civilians was just plain wrong.

She'd have to find some way to offer a decent apology later . . .

And now, here she is in one of the many bedrooms of Tsunami's house, holding someone whose existence unsettles her to the core.

An official document rests in her hands, some of the ink still drying from the information she's had to fill in.

_**Uzumaki Naruto**: Kyūbi jinchūriki. Origins unknown. Arrival unexplained. Found dressed in Konoha attire, including one standard-issued headband, a pouch of standard-issued kunai and shuriken, and three coupons to Ichiraku's that expire in two weeks._

_Weaknesses: Uzumaki-chakra chains appear to be effective in quelling his rage. Seals may be used to cut off his chakra._

But there's more than that.

Blond hair brighter than the sun, eyes more blue than the ocean on a cloudless day, and three whisker marks that look like they've been sliced into his cheeks.

In other words, if Naruko was a boy. Minus the Kyūbi, of course. But still, pretty damn unsettling.

The Nine-Tails aside, how do you interact with someone who by all rights _shouldn't exist?_

What do you say when you have nothing but questions?

Something flashes in the afternoon sunlight, and Kushina has to squint a bit in its glare.

Shinobi steel. Konoha's hitai-ate.

_Naruto's_ hitai-ate. Not once has he taken it off since she's seen him.

Blue eyes stare out at her from under the familiar stylized leaf.

Kushina's lips curve up. "You're a part of the Leaf Shinobi?"

The reply is instantaneous and forceful, full of infectious cheer. "Believe it! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, Konoha's number one unpredictable shinobi!"

She beams at the exuberant exclamation and nods in approval. "Good! A man should always proudly declare who he is!"

The teenager grins before he catches himself and goes on guard once more, his expression far more subdued.

For a moment, it's almost like he's arguing with himself . . . in his head. Kushina doesn't know what else to make of all those odd facial expressions. They vary from annoyance, to frustration, to affront, until his features finally settle into resignation.

He slumps back into his bad with a sigh, and Kushina's gaze absently darts over the suppression seals that she and Naruko have drawn all over him as a precaution.

"I need your help."

A single red eyebrow rises. Well, that was unexpected.

"Oh? You need my help with what?"

Naruto stares up at the ceiling, eyes tracking the well-worn varnish and the occasional crack in the wood, and the sea's salty air drifts in through the open window.

"Have you ever heard of the Jūbi?"

* * *

_Once upon a time, a young hero challenged a god._

_Unfortunately for him, the god was infinitely more powerful._

_It's a hard thing, being cast out from your very world, and harder still when it means that everyone you've ever loved is lost._

* * *

_Earlier . . ._

There are many, many theories on the subconscious. Some speculate that it's a manifestation of an individual's state of being. Others say that it's completely random. And still others claim that what's seen in the subconscious represents every experience, every memory, every dream and ambition.

Everything. It's all there in some form or another.

What ever those theories are, though, they do not matter for Uzumaki Naruto.

His mind is irreconcilably different from that of anyone else on the face of the planet: a great, dark sewer, with dim lighting and long shadows. Murky water flows ankle-deep, and hulking metal walls loom on all sides. The smallest of sounds is capable of setting off a chain of echoes.

This is not a reflection of his state of being, and it's certainly not random.

This is a _prison_, built to house a very specific and very powerful entity.

Naruto takes a step forward, sloshing through the water as he does so.

**"So, Naruto, you're finally here, in _my_ domain."** The voice is something straight out of a nightmare, its source even more so. It is the essence of terror and death, its every decibel capable of driving men to mind-numbing fear.

Naruto only snorts, his face taking on an indignant expression. "_Your_ domain? This is _my_ mind!"

A spine-chilling laugh booms.

**"It _would_ be, if you were actually capable of higher intelligence. As the superior being, I claim this domain as my own."** A great thud booms in the cavernous room, and the air is filled with the reverberating echoes.

Naruto imagines a great tail thumping on the floor.

"Oh?" he demands, his eye twitching. "You wanna _fight_ me for it?" He moves closer and closer towards the voice until a titanic iron-wrought gate comes into view. It's open, but the area behind it is pitch black, the utter absence of light.

**"Silence, _brat_."**

"Ha! I knew it! You're _scare—_"

An explosion of activity. First, in the darkness, two crimson eyes bigger than men snap open with a pulse. In the blackness of the cage, they are like livid, red-hot coals that just _burn_. Even as Naruto gulps and takes an uneasy step back, that thing in the darkness moves.

It only takes seconds for a wide-eyed Naruto to see a Bijū bursting out of the opening in its cage, all flashing fangs and long sharp claws.

To understand the magnitude of facing down a charging _Bijū_, one must take size into context. For instance, if a small child were to run at you, you'd hardly flinch. A hostile medium-sized dog? You'd try to dodge, and maybe look around for an owner to sue. An elephant with a great swinging trunk and white ivory tusks? You'd fucking _run_. And not very fast when compared with the elephant.

A Bijū on average is the size of _twenty_ elephants.

They are also lightning-fast when the situation demands it.

Poor Naruto has no time whatsoever to dodge.

"Gah! Kura—"

It only takes _milliseconds_ for him to be slammed to the floor by a gigantic taloned hand and forced underwater.

But it takes no time at all for the room to light up like the sun as Naruto retaliates.

Kurama grunts as he's violently shoved off his vessel, watching with a baleful eye as the boy's body turns bright gold and the water around him is blasted away with pure power.

**"Tch! You've got some nerve, _brat_. To _dare_ to use my own chakra against me . . ."**

Naruto is too busy choking on inhaled water to respond. Kurama takes a moment to enjoy the sight.

"What the _hell_, Kurama! I came because you called! We need to find a way out of this genjutsu thing!"

**"Oh?"** Sharp ivory gleams as the demon bends down. His red fur is standing on end, and his great red eyes glare. **"So it seems you remembered. You're smarter than I gave you credit for."** That practiced mocking undertone is unmistakable.

"Hey!"

**"But only by a bit."**

"HEY! Shut up, you—"

Even the Kyūbi has to admit, enough is enough. Certain things need to be done.

**"NARUTO!"** Nine tails slam to the floor, shaking the entire room with their force. **"You will be silent, and you will _listen!_"**

The only reply is a glare. Kurama could have sworn he heard the boy mutter, "But you started it . . ." but he dismisses it, being the wise and generous creature that he is.

**"Now, there is one thing you need to know."** The fox doesn't miss the sudden gleam of interest in the teenager's eyes, nor the way his hands are suddenly twitching with repressed excitement.

That poor idiot . . .

"You found a way out of here?" The fox nearly winces at the amount of _hope_ in the question, and guilt bubbles up in his chest before he ruthlessly crushes it.

**"The opposite."**

Naruto staggers, almost as if he'd taken a blow. "W-What?"

**"I feel another Kyūbi outside of this seal."**

This time, Naruto's jaw is literally unhinged. "_What? _Obito made another Kyūbi?!"

**"No . . ."**

"Then—"

**"Naruto, to _create_ a Bijū in this era is an impossible feat, even for a man with Obito's power."**

"But you said there was another Kyūbi! That doesn't make any sense!"

**"Indeed . . ." **A low, guttural growl makes the water at their feet ripple. **"Naruto . . . What have you noticed about this fake world?"**

The teenager stares at Kurama for several seconds, even as his face adopts a look of concentration.

This lasts several minutes.

Kurama loses his patience after seven.

**"You idiot! Have you really noticed _nothing?!_"**

"Hey, I _totally_ noticed something!"

**"_Oh?_"** Kurama sneers. **"Then _prove _it, you bumbling buffoon!"**

The ferocious blue-eyed glare Naruto shoots him can burn water, until it cuts off as the blond lowers his head with a sigh. "I saw dead people."

_Finally_. One foot in the right direction.

**"Exactly. And they weren't even reanimations. They were _alive_."**

"But . . . the only time I've seen _that_ kind of reanimation was when Nagato used the Rinnegan!"

A colossal puff of steamy air engulfs the teenager's built form, causing him to glare a little at its source.

**"You saw your parents."**

Naruto's eye twitches at the obvious statement. "_Yes_ I saw my parents. You were there, too!"

**"And who _else_ was there, Naruto?"** Kurama prods.

Just like that, an image comes to mind.

Blonde-haired and blue-eyed. A wickedly strong punch. Three pairs of whiskers on her cheeks.

A jumpsuit colored bright orange.

The facts are all there, but it takes a few seconds for their meaning to sink in. At the spark of realization, the entire cavern shudders with the force of Naruto's shock even as his eyes widen and he sharply inhales.

Holy_ shit_.

* * *

_After a long, long journey, the hero found himself face to face with the impossible. He denied it, he ran away from it, he _fought _it, but he could never escape it.  
_

_In the end, he stood firm with his shoulders square and declared that he'd never run away. And he _always_ keeps his promises, dattebayō!_

* * *

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

* * *

_Once upon a time, deep in the forest, there lived a little ninja boy with dark hair and dark eyes. He was the second son of the Clan Head, and everyone adored him for his bright smile and his cheerful nature. But none loved him more than his older brother._

_And the little boy loved his brother more than anything else. If he had a scrape or a bruise, his brother would make the pain go away. If he wanted to be put to bed, his brother would tell him stories of shadow warriors and beautiful damsels until his eyes began to droop._

_Their bond was something that could never be broken._

_And for a time, they were happy, and their village thrived in peace._

_But like all good things, it did not last._

_After a series of horrifying and bloody events, both brothers were utterly and irrevocably broken, their cherished bond cleaved in two._

_In a single night, Konoha lost a clan, the little boy lost his family, and Uchiha Itachi lost his soul._

* * *

It's _strange_, Sasuke decides. Strange that four dead kage run alongside the living. Strange that the Shinigami was disemboweled for this to even be possible.

Yes. All of these things are strange.

But something else is just _bizarre_.

By no means is Sasuke a sensor, but even he knows that something is wrong.

He knows, but still he races forward through a sea of unease.

What he feels is not the explosiveness of ninjutsu bouts, nor even the ferocious boom of Bijū chakra.

What he _feels_ is a void so deep and empty that it defies understanding.

But in some odd fashion, it all makes sense.

Ahead is Uchiha Madara.

The man with the Bijū in his thrall and the world at his mercy.

* * *

_After years and years, the two brothers fought to the death. Lightning flashed and thunder roared, and through it all, the hands of Fate plucked at Destiny's strings._

_That day, a lost and orphaned boy would rise to avenge his murdered family._

_That day, Uchiha Itachi would die._

_In the end, the young boy became a man, and after a brutal battle, he stood victorious over his brother's corpse._

_But Fate is a cruel mistress._

_For it was not his brother who was the true murderer. No, his brother had protected him to the bitter end._

_When the twisted truth was finally revealed, the young man was reborn, and an Avenger was forged from the black flames of hatred, pain, and crushing guilt._

_A few weeks later, Shimura Danzō stood impaled through his chest by a sword of lightning, and the young Avenger learned the grim satisfaction of crushing his mortal enemies under his heel._

* * *

"Sasuke-kun?!"

At his name, there are mutinous mutterings of the traitorous Uchiha nuke-nin all around. No one approaches him, though.

Sasuke turns and sees pink hair and startled green eyes. He acknowledges the girl with a formal nod, "Sakura."

"Are . . . are you really back?"

_Please say yes, Sasuke-kun . . ._

He doesn't look at her face.

And for a moment, the young woman's eyes betray a pain that threatens to crush her.

"N-Naruto's out there, and he's—"

_He's fighting with all his heart. Won't you go fight with him?_

"I'm not here for Naruto."

_What?_

"Then why?"

_Why come back at all? I know it's not for me . . ._

The din of tens of thousands sprinting at full speed momentarily overwhelms their ears, until a single, proud voice rings clear.

"Isn't it obvious, Sakura? I'm here to kill Uchiha Madara."

* * *

_When everything he thought he knew turned out to be false, the young Avenger met with the dead._

_And then, when the meeting was ended, the dead were somewhere in between._

_And the Avenger was an Avenger no more._

* * *

Sasuke feels as more and more shinobi join his side in a headlong sprint.

He hears it. They _all_ hear it. The final call to battle that resonates in their minds.

The last Uchiha somehow ends up spearheading the entire Shinobi Alliance as they rush into action.

* * *

_Once upon a time, an ex-Avenger challenged a god._

_It ended in utter _disaster_._

* * *

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

* * *

**Author's Note: **_First off, sorry for the wait. School is _killing _me. Senior year of high school isn't nearly as easy as it's cracked out to be. Then again, that could just be with the classes I chose to take . . . (-_-)__  
_

_Anyway, feel free to be rude. I'm not the nicest guy myself, so I understand the need to vent. Although I'd probably just laugh if someone told me off for a fan fiction. XD_

_Basically, if you choose to review, don't hold back just for the sake of being polite. If something makes you mad, then go ahead and rant._

_That aside, I have a few stories you should check out. Why?_

_They're A) well-written, B) the plot is actually captivating, C) the authors are personal friends who I can personally attest are competent writers._

**Actions and Words**_ by _**Ekusukallybaa**

Actions speak louder than words, and Sasuke's actions speak louder than most. Divergence fic.

_First off, this author was formerly known as AQZT, the guy who wrote 'Brothers Namikaze' which is a story where Naruto travels back in time (and ends up as a kid) to when Minato was a teenager. _

_Second, he knows how to write Sasuke like no one else I know, enough that he was able to do the __entire story in a _believable_ and _engaging _first-person. As a writer, I can attest that first person is freaking hard. That, and the fight scenes are great._

**Uzumaki **_by_ **AlmostElectric**

Uchiha Satsuki, avenger, doesn't love anything, or anyone. Not revenge, not tomatoes, and definitely – definitely! – not Uzumaki Naruto. But when she winds up on a genin team with him, she realises there's more to his smile than teeth and sunshine. Female!Sasuke

_This girl has me in awe with the way she pours her emotions into her story. Beautiful symbolism, heartbreaking scenes. Definitely worth the read. She will pluck at your heartstrings (and on a completely random note, last week I found out that heartstrings are an actual thing. And that cow hearts are HUGE.) like nobody's business._

**Revolutionary** _by _**Lord Darkly**

In the aftermath of the Kyuubi attack, the Leaf Village was left without a Hokage. Now, thirteen years later, a very different shinobi world marks the landscape. In a land where mercy is weakness, and the balance of power grows ever more rigid, one boy stands alone in his quest for recognition.

_Only one chapter so far, but it already has my attention. Do you like dystopias? Well, _I_ like 'em. And if you're anything like me, you should give it a shot._

_. . ._

_Holy Hell, this author's note is way too long. Eh, whatever._

_Oh! Before I forget, thanks to everyone who took the time to review. Reading your honest opinions means a lot to me._


	12. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: **Thanks to members of the AAC (Awesome Author's Coalition) for taking a look at this.

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

* * *

**A New Dawn**

Chapter 11: The Ex-Avenger

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

* * *

For Uchiha Sasuke, being forced from reality is rather like being shoved straight through a wall of gravel, only to jump into a cauldron of boiling oil right after.

His world is fire, and his vision is a void. Time has no meaning, because there is only the consuming, unending _pain_.

Pain greater than Orochimaru's Cursed Seal. Pain greater than the first time he used the Susano'o. And pain greater than the degeneration of his very eyes.

But this is _not_ greater than the pain of Itachi's death.

In a place between worlds where nothing truly exists, a young man opens eyes that swirl with red and black, and he _screams_.

A door swings wide open.

* * *

_Naruto's arrival was marked by explosive power, a terrified audience, and a less-than-amused kage. _

_Sasuke's is muted by eternal rain, his audience is nowhere to be seen, and if anything, the kage at the scene is merely curious._

* * *

"Did anyone _see_ how he managed to infiltrate our village?"

"N-No, Konan-sama! One minute we were heading out to our stations for sentry duty, and the next he was just . . ."

Konan arches a brow. "I see," she says, gravely. Her short, blue hair flutters as a rogue breeze strays her way. She ignores it.

The man flushes, then promptly goes into a deep bow. "I apologize for my incompetence, Konan-sama! I do not know how to make up for—"

Konan raises a hand, and the man immediately falls silent, hanging onto her every word with a near fanatical zeal.

"That will be all, Kuroda-san. Return to your post, and do not speak of this with anyone. Is that understood?"

The next bow nearly causes the man to topple over. "Hai, Konan-sama!"

Within the span of a heartbeat, he's gone, ridiculously eager to follow her orders to the letter.

Konan, Guardian Angel of Ame, looks up at her village's skyline. Like iron-wroght spears, they pierce into the muted grey of Ame's eternal rain, towering over the landscape like the city of a god.

There, at the highest point of the tallest tower, a solitary figure watches over them all.

Their two gazes meet, then Konan nods at an unspoken command. Her form dissipates as she peels away into thousands of sheets of paper.

* * *

Sasuke rolls over with a stifled groan, half-expecting the ground he's laying on to be soaked with blood. The sobering thought that by all rights he should be dead chases the sleep right out of his head.

Then he realizes he's not on the ground; he's on a cot in dry clothes and tucked comfortably under a warm blanket. The room where he's being kept is small but well lit, with a small table at the head of the bed and large windows that allow the grey-white light to come flooding in. He winces as the rays, dim as they are, stab his sleep-sensitive eyes.

Slowly, cautiously, he rises, not entirely trusting in his limbs to fully hold himself up.

A quick glance around the room reveals an inconspicuous door on the far side, amidst white-washed walls common in a hospital. Sasuke narrows his eyes.

Is this a trap? He doesn't know where he is or why he's here, but he is not one to underestimate the capabilities of his opponents. Orochimaru made that mistake, not him.

Yet, he senses nothing. He can see no traps and hears naught but the sound of a steady downpour outside. The air smells damp, and everything is moist to the touch.

Eyes narrowed, senses alert, he takes one step forward.

Nothing happens. Sasuke exhales in slight relief.

Body tensed and chakra surging, he moves to take another step—

[_Darkness and terror and unending strength_]

—only to stagger as his memories hit him with the shock of an icy lake.

They flash before his eyes faster than Madara ever could have moved, even with that godlike speed.

And it's not just images. He can hear them, hear their _screams_.

It's too much.

_As you are now, _**you**_ aren't even worth killing.__ _Foolish little brother._ _**don't**__ _If you wish to kill me, then blame me.__ _**have**_ __Hate me, and live on in shame.__ _**to**_ _Run and run. Cling desperately to life._ _**forgive**_ Then one day, come before _**me**_ with the same eyes I have now!_**  
**

It's _maddening._

Obsidian falls to a starburst of red, and the world seems to careen around him, as if being viewed through a warped glass.

Sasuke falls to his knees and clutches at his head, dead eyes staring listlessly through his fingers.

He's still like that when the door opens, and someone walks inside with a slow, controlled pace.

Sasuke peers through calloused hands and sees red clouds.

He freezes in place.

A deep monotone cuts through the uncomfortable silence, "You will come with me."

At the same time that the words are spoken, truth rings in the air, clear as the chime of a silver bell.

_No matter what you decide to do from now on . . ._

Power, raw and controlled, erupts—

_I will love you forever._

—and starburst eyes _spin._

"_Susano'o!_"

* * *

Konan hears a scream of unbridled fury, and she turns in the direction of the sound.

That's when the middle of one of the towers has a wall completely blown out. Rocks and shards of glass shower down on the land below.

A cold dread worms its way into her stomach. That was a containment facility. Had that forei—

She's interrupted as the ground quakes, and an entire section of the damaged building collapses with a groan. Dust spews into a muted grey sky.

The dread in her stomach blossoms into something more.

How many lives were lost just then? How many people crushed by the unforgiving rocks?

She finds she doesn't want to think about it.

Then, ever so slowly, a purple giant rises from the debris.

Konan's jaw drops. Her heart skids to a stop, then takes off in a full gallop.

At the same time, her dread kindles into a cold rage, her mind goes on overdrive, and the air is flooded with paper.

* * *

Sasuke snarls as dust invades the air, hampering his vision. His wide, sweeping attack with the skeletal arm has managed to destroy most of the room, but there is no confirmation that the shinobi hasn't simply dodged.

He doesn't recognize this man, a shinobi with hair that's a bizarre combination of Juugo's color and Naruto's style, but that cloak is unmistakable.

Red clouds against a black barrier.

A bloody new dawn.

Madara's pawns.

_Akatsuki._

Sasuke feels the jutsu before he sees it.

"Suiton: Mizurappa!"

Behind him!

Just as he turns, a torrent of water rockets towards Sasuke's chest, dead-set on skewering him. At such speeds powered by such strong chakra, the jutsu is formidable enough to gouge through solid rock.

It spatters harmlessly against the Susano'o's ribcage.

Sasuke turns sharply. That attack has given the Akatsuki member's location away.

With a practiced speed, he reaches behind himself for a handful of shuriken to hurl, only for his hands to catch on empty air. Tch! They took his weapons.

"So, Konoha shinobi, what will you do now?" It is a powerful voice, cold and calculating.

As Sasuke's eyes narrow at the title, the Akatsuki member steps forward, effectively abandoning his hiding place. He walks with a confident gait, and his face is devoid of emotion, but Sasuke still manages to catch the flicker of unease as the man looks upon the mighty form of the Susano'o.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asks.

The man merely stares at him, observing his starburst eyes and the gargantuan purple ribcage that surrounds him carefully, but not fearfully.

A deep breath, a burst of chakra, and ribcage is joined by skeletal arms and a demon's horned skull. Pure-white alien eyes gleam with ferocity.

The man watches, and Sasuke catches the glint of shinobi steel over his forehead. Vertical lines. Four of them, side by side, proclaiming allegiance to the Village Hidden in the Rain.

Ame, huh? It makes sense, in a way. A place so remote and secretive that foreign shinobi haven't stepped foot in it for over eighteen years. Why _wouldn't _the Akatsuki be hiding here?

That's when the roof collapses, forcing them both to jump out of the way. Suddenly, they're completely exposed to icy rain, and Sasuke nearly falls seven stories when the floor under him breaks away. He watches a chunk of concrete the size of a small room shatter against the cold, wet ground. He grimaces, and with agility born of desperation, he uses the falling rubble as a platform to launch himself back into the ruined building, at times using the Susano'o's arms instead of his own legs.

He makes it back up in less than four seconds.

The Akatsuki member is waiting for him.

"You have trespassed on Amegakure's territory, Uchiha," the man says, before slowly circling Sasuke with a predatory grace. "You are a prisoner of war."

"I did not trespass. I merely woke up in this building. But more than that, what makes you think I'd _allow_ you to take me prisoner?" His words knife through the distance between them.

They probably didn't know the proper sealing jutsu to keep him down, anyway. Even _Danzō's_ strongest hadn't been nearly enough.

"I am more than capable of restraining you," the man says, quietly. "I can and _will_ defeat you." His orange hair somehow manages to defy the relentless onslaught of the rain, remaining in a familiar spiky style. "Surrender while you can, Uchiha."

Sasuke's smirk dies away when he sees utter confidence on the Akatsuki member's face.

He takes a single step forward.

"What makes you think—"

Muscle knits itself over bone.

"—that _I_—"

Then comes skin.

"—will_ surrender?_"

Then cloaked armor with a terrifying mask.

Suddenly, the orange-haired Akatsuki member doesn't look so confident.

"Now then," Sasuke snarls, "see if I_ 'surrender'_."

* * *

_A man with something to believe in is like a force of nature._

* * *

Sasuke grunts as a powerful jet of water puts his Susano'o off balance. He teeters precariously on the edge of the crumbling building, before leaping forward to avoid an untimely descent towards the wet concrete waiting below.

The Akatsuki member doesn't give him time to rest. Immediately, chakra-laced water bullets blast against the Susano'o's imposing frame. None of them are strong enough to penetrate or even crack the ethereal armor, but they're _staggering_.

Sasuke struggles to keep his footing as he's forced back again and again, having no choice but to navigate the dangerously unstable floor.

The fact that the incoming rain has thickened doesn't make it any easier. Water coats ever surface of the ruined building, collecting in pools here and there. It's reached the point where Sasuke's actually reinforcing his grip on the floor with chakra, wasting far more than he wants to. But wasted chakra is a far better option than slipping.

Another torrent of water slams into the Susano'o, and Sasuke's rage flares as he staggers yet again. With a snarl, he directs his armored giant against his antagonizer.

The giant pauses, then pulls a bow out of thin air.

The Akatsuki member stops in his tracks and stares, his features slightly more alarmed.

Sasuke stares right back, starburst eyes whirling in a hypnotic dance. Unexpectedly, he smiles a smile of savage rage and cold judgement.

The Susano'o's other arm _reaches_, and an orb of black fire roars to life above its hand.

Even from ten yards away, the Akatsuki member can feel the heat. He slowly backs up, his eyes trained on the Susano'o's bow.

Sasuke doesn't stop smiling, and the orb of flames morphs into a writhing, ebon shaft.

Tears of blood well in his eyes, then run down his face. The alarm dominates the orange-haired man's features.

The bow draws, and the man vanishes behind a ruined wall, causing Sasuke to effectively lose sight of his target.

No matter.

_Twang._

A sea of black flames engulfs the entire top floor of the building, helped along by guiding starburst eyes.

Steam and smoke rise through the air, and Sasuke allows his Susano'o to dissipate. Carefully, he walks into the inferno, his every step poised for action. The building has fared badly, its walls broken down, its roof completely gone, and black fire consuming everything in sight. Burning debris litters the floor, and rain pours in from overhead as the rising heat feeds into the storm.

Sasuke rapidly scans the surrounding area.

Nothing. No man writhing in hellfire, no burning corpse.

That Akatsuki member is gone.

Then something sounds off behind him, a dull clanging sound.

Sasuke turns rapidly, his eyes whirling, hands cloaked with lightning, and—

A single sheet of paper blows in the wind, curiously unaffected by the rain.

Intrigued, Sasuke walks up to it, dispelling the lightning mid-stride. He snatches it out of the air and examines it, noting the intricate pattern and the precise square into which it's been cut.

A sheet of origami paper? What would one be doing out—

That's when he sees the ominous glow of the exploding tags at his feet.

His eyes widen, his breath quickens, and he knows that he has no choice this time.

He turns, tenses his legs, and jumps straight off the building.

The explosion behind him makes him go even faster, leaving him with parting burns on his back and on the back of his limbs. Sasuke grits his teeth and endures it, his eyes capturing with perfect visual clarity the incoming concrete. He imagines falling at such speeds, his body shattering like a wet melon, his soul fleeing his ruined husk of a corpse.

The last Uchiha, destined to be dashed to death after falling off a building.

Then Sasuke narrows his eyes. _As if._

"Susano'o!"

Translucent legs pound into the ground as behemoth knees bend to absorb the impact. Sasuke's body never breaks, but the concert most certainly does, shattering under the impact. He looks up at the ruins of the skyscraper. It looks even worse from the outside, with the remaining structure literally beginning to melt in the heat. Even though the rain is comparable to a tropical monsoon, Amaterasu's flames are unrelenting.

That aside, he's running low on chakra. He can't risk staying in the Akatsuki's territory with such strong members in close proximity. He needs to get out of here, get back to the field, and—

Wait.

The field.

The battle.

He winces as his head throbs with pain.

What _happened?_

Had . . .

_Sasuke, run! He's—_

No. It can't be.

_Why is nothing working?! Goddamn tree_—__

But . . . there's no other explanation.

After Madara defeated him, everything went black. Had _Madara _brought him here?

If that's the case, though, that would mean that they lost. Something cold settles into the pit of Sasuke's stomach: a feeling of dread he can't quite shake.

Unfortunately, that feeling serves to be a distraction at the worst possible time.

A flock of paper cranes swooped in from the sky, and he doesn't notice until the first one embeds itself into his arm.

He gasps with shock as the paper burrows into his flesh, then promptly retaliates. The cranes are slashed straight out of flight with a hail of lightning spears, each thrown at wings and stabilizing tails with deadly precision. Ten seconds and eighty paper cranes later, Sasuke hides himself behind a wall of one of the skyscrapers, his body covered in paper-cuts. He winces as he examines the bloody groove that's been carved into his arm. The wound is deep, and the compromised mobility may be problematic.

Getting out of this village just increased in priority.

He grits his teeth and rips some cloth from his shirt and stems the bleeding by tightly binding his wound.

His head snaps up when the ground rumbles. Alarmed, his Sharingan-enhanced gaze darts all around.

The ground at his feet turns to quicksand, ensnaring him in its grip. In the corners of his vision, dozens of shadowy figures flicker into existence until he's surrounded by cloaked warriors.

There is no time anymore. He needs to leave _now_.

"Chidori Eisō!" The barest edges of panic leak into his voice.

The quicksand burns away with a burst of lightning, and Sasuke leaps clear. The soldiers of Ame follow him, the shadows of a cluster of skyscrapers.

Sasuke turns, kicks one shinobi in the throat, and sprints through the opening he's just created.

* * *

The fight was long and intense. It was also more that Sasuke could handle in his exhausted state.

He slumps down against the cool stone walls of a cave he's managed to find somewhere in the Land of Fire, working to control his ragged breathing and his pounding heartbeat. The light at the entrance is almost painfully bright, so Sasuke turns away from it, shielding his tender eyes with locks of wild hair.

His arm throbs from the gash he suffered in the fight, but eventually, almost as though his exhaustion finally snuck up on him, his mind drifts into unconsciousness with the ease of an Uchiha activating the Sharingan.

Then he's dreaming.

He's standing in a field of corpses that stretches out further than the eye can see. Thousands upon thousands of bodies with unseeing eyes, gaping mouths, and rotting flesh. Crow food, all of them. The faces he doesn't know, but the uniforms are recognizable: Stone, Mist, Cloud, Sand, Leaf. The one thing they share is a headband with a single character carved into it. They may have been divided in life, but death has united them as _Shinobi._

Sasuke takes in the scene without a hint of expression. He watches impassively as crows descend from the skies to greedily tear into the flesh of the fallen.

"Is war not terrible, little brother?"

He doesn't have to turn around to know who it is. "So I even see you in my dreams, now. Is that what you are? A dream?"

Itachi merely steps into place beside him, dressed in the same clothes he was in the moment he died. "What I am does not matter. What matters is what you will do now."

Sasuke stares at his brother. "Is there anything _to_ do? Madara won. I don't know why he hasn't enacted Tsuki no Mei yet, but nothing can stop him anymore." He gestures pointedly in front of them, where the scavengers feast. "_They _certainly can't do anything."

They watch in silence as thunder booms overhead, and crimson clouds rain blood on the land. The crows take flight, and soon the field drowns. Half-eaten corpses start floating to the top of a red lake.

"Madara spared me." Sasuke looks to Itachi, but the man is staring as bodies bob to the surface one by one. He continues, "I don't know why. He took me to Ame of all places. It seems to be an Akatsuki stronghold, which does make sense. No outsider has set for in that place for nearly two decades. I fought to get away as soon as I realized what they were."

The corners of Itachi's mouth curve up at that. "You've grown, little brother."

Sasuke merely looks at him. "I had no choice." Something about his tone suggests bitterness, but it's not there anymore. In its place is merely bleak acceptance.

Itachi's smile disappears, and he murmurs, "Indeed." Both brothers look on as the bodies clog the surface of the lake of blood.

"What is this?" Sasuke asks.

"This is your dream, Sasuke. You tell me." Itachi turned and began walking away from the lake. Sasuke followed him.

"You know what I mean, brother. Don't play games with me."

"This is the price."

Sasuke stops walking, and Itachi looks back to gauge his reaction. "The price?" he asks.

Itachi nods. "Yes," he says. "Every action worth taking has a price of some sort. This was Madara's price to control the world."

Sasuke is an aloof individual, a damaged individual, but he has his own sense of justice.

He knows that Madara's actions are simply wrong on a profound level. He had been wrong to blame all of Konoha for Itachi's suffering, he knew that now. But _this_. A man willing to pay this kind of price for _anything_ did not deserve to continue existing in this world.

"Were Madara's actions ever worth taking?" It isn't a question so much as it is a snarl.

Itachi looks at him with a guarded expression, then turns and continues walking. Sasuke follows, his head roiling with rage and unease. Soon, the lake fades into the distance, and the two find themselves in a familiar forest. Old trees and numerous shrubs mark the landscape.

"Do you remember this place, little brother?"

Of course he does. He remembers watching his brother train endlessly, turning shuriken throwing into a deadly art that painted with blood.

Sasuke looks around for the targets. They're still here, marked by hundreds of encounters with razor-sharp projectiles.

He nods, and Itachi looks into the distance. "For so long I would turn you away, not trusting you to bear the same burdens I bore, but it turns out that you're stronger than I could have ever hoped."

Itachi smiles, and something in Sasuke's heart clenches at the words and a lump forms in his throat. "Brother . . ."

"Do you remember the blind spot?"

How could he forget? The _one place_ that he'd never managed to hit during his time in Konoha.

Itachi reaches behind himself, and then stretches out for Sasuke, his hands full of kunai. "You're ready."

Sasuke blinks, then accepts the weapons.

"The key," Itachi says, "is the Sharingan, fully matured. It is necessary the first time to engrain muscle memory, but after that it is merely a matter of practice."

Sasuke nods, then positions himself in the middle of the forest clearing, both hands bursting with knives. For a moment, everything is still.

Then Sasuke's eyes snap open, red and swirling black.

He springs into action, leaping into the air and hurling kunai at one target after another. One knife seemingly flew wide of any target, but it was quickly hit with another in such a way that both kunai buried themselves into the sought-after dot of a bullseye.

Lithely, he lands without a sound, his hands completely empty. Sasuke looks to Itachi expectantly. "Well?"

A soft smile is his only answer.

But it's enough.

Sasuke wakes up, and he fumbles at the makeshift bandage around his arm. When the blood-stained cloth is finally off, he stares at unblemished skin. There's not a trace of evidence of the wound he had received earlier. The throbbing pain is gone.

He leans back against the stones walls with a sigh. "Thank you, Itachi . . ."

This time, his sleep is dreamless.

* * *

**Author's Note: **_So, I don't really have any excuses. I've had time to write. I've had opportunities. Hell, I even had _inspiration._ I just didn't feel like it. _:P

_But here we are with a new chapter, so let's just focus on that. Yes, I completely ignored Naruto, Naruko, Kushina and alt!Sasuke for this chapter. That's _because _I know many of you want to read what happens next in there. (Yes, Py and Igor, that was just for you.) XD_

_Anyway, here are two stories which kinda blow me right out of the water._

**The Sage's Mind Wandering Adventure_ \- _**by **Zenthisoror**

The Sage of the Six Paths had planned his Grand Entrance to perfection. That plan had not involved arriving early and getting lost on the outer perimeters of Naruto and Sasuke's Minds. Since neither Mind wants to die any time soon, guides have been sent to help the Sage get back on schedule. (Spoilers post-Chapter 669, a vaguely surreal meandering tour, borders on crack)_  
_

This _is how you write a proper mind-walking. Check it out. The symbolism is just amazing. And it's freaking hilarious. _XD_ I mean, walking through Naruto's mind alone. Just imagine. Cup ramen everywhere!_

**Team Kage - **by** PyrothTenka**

After the battle with Madara and the Juubi, a fierce argument starts between Naruto and Sasuke over who will become the next Hokage when Tsunade brings up a startling complication. They're both still Genin.

_I will admit, this is mostly to pressure Py into writing it again. _:P_ But read it! It's good!_

_Help me out and review to put even MORE pressure on her! _XD


	13. Chapter 12

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

.

**A New Dawn**

Chapter 12: Naru-hime

.

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

.

* * *

Naruko Uzumaki is born peacefully amidst falling leaves on the night of a full moon.

She has a head of blonde hair, baby blue eyes, and three whiskers on both cheeks.

She is not a jinchūriki.

* * *

What she _is_ is the loudest thing known to Konoha. It is rumored that the Yondaime had been highly tempted to install sound-proofing padding in baby Naruko's nursery, but was forced not to due to security reasons. The princess of Konoha makes for a tempting target, after all.

It quickly becomes apparent that Naruko is a happy baby, always laughing and babbling (hollering) at anyone who will listen. Indeed, few can resist the toothless grin or stop themselves from pinching her chubby cheeks.

* * *

.

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

.

* * *

Naruko meets Sasuke when she is just a few months old. She is gently set down next to the one-year-old boy who looks at her curiously, and Kushina and Mikoto coo over how cute their children look together.

Then Sasuke reaches out with stubby fingers, grabs hold of a strand of Naruko's blonde hair, and _pulls_.

Naruko shrieks so loudly that Sasuke flinches back with over-bright eyes and begins to wail as well.

That incident doesn't stop Mikoto and Kushina from trying, though. They're best friends and their kids are going to be too, dammit!

Eventually, Naruko learns to tolerate Sasuke's presence and Sasuke learns not to touch the girl's shiny blonde hair, although he sneaks glances at it whenever he thinks she isn't looking.

* * *

The _real_ problem starts when Sasuke comes to the unpleasant conclusion that he'll have to start sharing his big brother.

He realizes the fact when Itachi comes home one day and _Naruko_ is the first to run up to him and get a hug.

Feeling consumed with resentment and spite, he stomps up to them and shoves Naruko away from Itachi, watching with satisfaction as the girl falls to the floor and lands awkwardly on her bottom. "He _my_ big broh'er," Sasuke informs her.

Naruko screams and throws a fit and refuses to get up from where she's fallen, forcing Itachi to pluck her off the floor and comfort her to the best of his ability while simultaneously scolding Sasuke for his unprovoked violence. Sasuke hates her a little more for that.

From the safety of Itachi's arms Naruko stealthily sticks out her tongue at Sasuke, and he promptly throws a toy block at her head which proceeds to connect with rather impressive accuracy for a three-year-old.

The girl _wails_, and Itachi, already dealing with a splitting headache, snaps and orders Sasuke to the corner for a time-out.

Thus begins one of the most dysfunctional relationships Konoha has ever seen, matched only by Hashirama and Madara a century prior.

* * *

.

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

.

* * *

The first thing Naruko learns about being the Hokage's daughter is that people have the tendency to crowd around her and make weird faces at her, and generally don't leave her alone when she wants them to.

The second thing she learns is that lots of people are nice to her even though they aren't actually nice people. Naruko is understandably confused when she sees an old lady in the market who had just been waving a cane at some other children smile kindly at her and ask her if she'd like anything to eat. When she asks Itachi-nii about it, he tells her without the slightest bit of hesitation that because she is the Yondaime's daughter people will never stop trying to suck up to her in order to curry favor.

She doesn't look at any adult the same way until Iruka-sensei scolds her for scowling all the time. He is _not_ impressed when Naruko tries to pull the "I'm the Hokage's daughter so you have to listen to me" card. That gets Naruko her biggest scolding yet, and she has to clean the chalkboards for a week. But maybe, just maybe sensei isn't like those other people. (It is this incident which led to Iruka being Naruko's favorite teacher.)

* * *

.

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

.

* * *

Naruko is the only child in the world who can claim a close relationship with all three Legendary Sannin.

Jiraiya, the Wandering Toad Sage, is her godfather.

He shows up whenever it suits him and spirits her away on adventures that Minato invariably has to rescue her from. Naruko loves him for his bold demeanor and his easy smile. She loves his booming laugh and the way he makes her feel safe when he hugs her.

She doesn't like that he's a pervert, though.

Mom says that perverts are dirty.

* * *

Tsunade, the Slug Princess, has become something of an aunt.

Truth be told, Naruko and Tsunade are _actually_ related to each other, albeit distantly. Tsunade's grandmother is none other than Mito, former princess of the Uzumaki clan. And Naruko's mother, Kushina, is the _current_ princess of the Uzumaki (although there aren't many of them left anymore).

But they hadn't been close at first. Tsunade used to be cold and closed off, still bitter from her losses and crippled with regret. When Minato asks her to perform routine checkups on Naruko, she thinks it is a waste of time. Anyone could have done it. But it is for Minato, so she accepts.

On the first appointment, she finds a three-year-old girl practically bouncing off the walls of the hospital room, and an exhausted Kushina slumped over in a chair. Evidently the woman has all but given up. Snorting to herself, Tsunade barks an order at the child. Wide-eyed, Naruko immediately settles down.

After that, Kushina begins finding every excuse to take Naruko in for check-ups. Yes, Naruko stubbed her toe and maybe possibly broke it. No she isn't just making it up, 'ttebane. Yes, she really did forget what temperature a fever was supposed to be. No, this wasn't just because Tsunade was the only person whom Naruko listened to without question.

In time, the check-ups move from the hospital to the Uzumaki family apartment. The adults bond over pastries and tea (which Tsunade never fails to spike with sake) and Naruko's adorable smile captures Tsunade's heart. In retrospect, she never stood a chance.

* * *

Orochimaru, the White Snake of Konoha, used to be close enough for Naruko to call an uncle.

But then Minato discovers Orochimaru's illegal human experiments performed on Konoha citizens. Experiments performed on _newborns_.

Orochimaru tries to take Naruko hostage to use as leverage. Needless to say, that doesn't go over very well. It ends half-an-hour later with a drowsy (heavily drugged) Naruko returned to her frantic mother's embrace, and Minato hauling Orochimaru's thoroughly battered body (which he's marked with no less than a dozen Hiraishin seals, all in different places) down into a prison he's built together with Danzō.

Naruko doesn't remember much about Orochimaru due to her being two years old when his betrayal is discovered, but occasionally she recalls a pale-skinned face, raspy laughter, and a large hand ruffling her hair. Sometimes she misses it.

* * *

.

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

.

* * *

Naruko is also unique in that she has the unwavering guardianship of three of Konoha's greatest ninja prodigies.

Minato Namikaze, the reigning Yondaime, her (overprotective) father is absolutely ruthless when it comes to anything threatening his little girl. He is the man who's killed a thousand shinobi in the span of a second, single-handedly grinding the Third Great Shinobi War to a halt. He rose to lead his village after the flames of war died down. To Naruko, though, he is the man who changes her diapers and tucks her in at night. He is warmth and comfort and unconditional love. He's Daddy.

The second is Kakashi Hatake, the only ninja outside of the Uchiha clan to ever master the Sharingan. His relationship with Naruko is a strange fusion of a cool older brother and an uncle with a late streak a mile wide. He is teasing and laughter mixed with sharp barbs and brutal criticism. He loves Naruko like a sister, but he will never go easy on her. He's of the firm opinion that Naruko is spoiled enough as it is. (He's right.)

The third is Itachi, the pride of the Uchiha clan. He is an unparalleled prodigy, his prowess rivaling even the Yondaime's. To Naruko he is an older brother, a confidante. He is a shoulder to cry on and a source of warm hugs. He buys her ramen to cheer her up and listens to her problems, even if they're mostly about Sasuke being an idiot as usual (although Itachi will quietly pity his younger brother's misfortunes).

* * *

.

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

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* * *

When Naruko is seven, it is determined that she had the same quality of chakra as her mother. The fabled chakra of the Uzumaki, so dense and robust that it can be forged into unbreakable chains with enough power to restrain a rampaging tailed beast.

Naturally, when Minato finds out about this, so does Danzō.

But Danzō is smart enough not to approach Minato directly about his daughter. That is a surefire way to get himself a tri-pronged kunai to the back of the neck. No, the family of the Yondaime is untouchable, even for him.

But that doesn't stop him from making plans.

One way or another, he will hone the young princess of Konoha into a mighty weapon. Even if indirectly.

* * *

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**~o**0**O**0**o~**

.

* * *

Minato catches wind of Danzō's plan and almost immediately shuts him down with an all-too-clear warning. Funding for ROOT is cut, and he is placed under house arrest with a constant ANBU guard. His ROOT shinobi are all captured and imprisoned. Even a few of the deep cover specialists are found out and tossed into cells.

It is this utter lack of forgiveness that leads Danzō to believe that Minato is more than capable of protecting Konoha. _This_ is a man he will gladly follow, all steel with none of Sarutobi's weakness.

By the mere act of existing, Naruko causes a chain of events that leads to Danzō becoming _loyal_ to his Hokage. That doesn't get him out of jail, though.

* * *

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**~o**0**O**0**o~**

.

* * *

Despite being the daughter of the Yondaime, Naruko is _not _popular in the Academy.

She is too loud, too obnoxious, not girly in the slightest, and somehow without even trying she is the only girl Sasuke will talk to. This alone sets most of the other girls against her, except for quiet little Hinata who watches shyly from a distance.

The boys, unfortunately, aren't that different. Again, it's Sasuke's fault. They hate his arrogance and cocky attitude (although not entirely undeserved, as he is the best in class), and that resentment extends to Naruko since she is always around him.

In typical Uzumaki fashion, she laughs off the taunts and the insults, smiling brightly in the face of scorn and spite.

She doesn't need friends like that anyway. She has Sasuke and Itachi-nii, and that's enough for her.

Although, in the years to come, she always blames Sasuke for turning the girls against her. He never once apologizes. (He never did like to share.)

* * *

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**~o**0**O**0**o~**

.

* * *

No-one is surprised in the least when Naruko is placed on a genin team with Sasuke. There is an odd dynamic between those two that, while annoying at times, will certainly prove useful on the field.

Everyone is a bit baffled, however, when Sakura Haruno joins them.

If Naruko is water and Sasuke is oil, Sakura is the spark that sets the entire thing ablaze.

Simply put, Sakura is a fangirl who has set her sights on the supremely unwilling Sasuke. She sees Naruko as a threat, Naruko sees her as a jerk, and Sasuke sees her as an unparalleled annoyance with zero redeeming qualities. In their own ways, they are all somewhat right about each other.

* * *

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**~o**0**O**0**o~**

.

* * *

After several months of weeding gardens and shopping for groceries (and catching that god-forsaken cat over and over again), Naruko launches herself at her father and _demands_ a better mission.

When Sasuke grunts his agreement and Sakura hesitantly backs the sentiment, Minato's sharp gaze falls upon the discreet motions of Kakashi's hands.

_Team Seven ready._

Minato smiles, firmly prying his daughter's vice-like grip from his neck. "Well, I guess you guys are finally ready for your first C-ranked mission."

Naruko's eyes widen before she starts bouncing all over the room, hollering her triumph. Sakura hisses at her to act more dignified, and Sasuke just smirks to himself.

Minato catches Kakashi's eye as the children celebrate their release from the monotonous hell of D-ranks.

_Guard her_, he signs.

_Of course_, Kakashi signs back.

* * *

.

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

.

* * *

When death jumps out at them from a puddle in the form of two enemy chūnin, Kakashi takes no chances, swiftly incapacitating one of them and leaving his genin to face the other.

True to form, Naruko rushes in blindly, and Kakashi nearly has a heart-attack when he sees a curved blade speeding towards his student's vulnerable neck. Sasuke leaps to the rescue, shoving Naruko out of harm's way and barely deflecting the weapon with a kunai.

Within moments the two enemy chūnin are neutralized, and Kakashi's genin have lived through their first real fight.

But something doesn't add up.

Why were they attacked in the first place?

It's obvious that this wasn't a random encounter.

The first possibility is that his _team_ is being targeted.

Sakura is—as far as Kakashi can tell—a regular Konoha girl of no true importance. Sasuke on the other hand is the second son of the Uchiha's clan leader, worth a hefty ransom if one is bold enough to go through with a kidnapping. The same can be said with Naruko's status as the princess of Konoha, as well as being one of the last Uzumaki in existence. And then, of course, there is Kakashi himself. He'll be the first to admit that plenty of people want him dead. Being in ANBU for several years tends to earn you that kind of sentiment from the world at large.

The problem, though, is that unless there is a truly extensive network of information leakage in Konoha's upper ranks (highly unlikely), there is no possible way anyone outside of Konoha could have known about Team Seven's mission.

That leaves one other option.

"Tazuna-san," Kakashi says, his voice nice and soft and all the deadlier for it. He tilts his head in a bright, one-eyed smile, and Tazuna (quite understandably) shivers in fear. "Is there anything you'd like to tell us?"

* * *

.

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

.

* * *

To Kakashi's regret, Sasuke's shame, Sakura's quiet pity, and Naruko's explosive outrage, the Wave mission is abandoned.

There are simply too many unpredictable variables for Kakashi to confidently handle. He has three more-or-less untrained genin on a mission that is _supposed_ to be a C-rank, and there is a _very_ wealthy businessman who will do anything to see Tazuna dead, including hiring more missing nin (each more skilled than the last) to finish the job.

Tazuna is trying to do a noble thing, he really is. Risking his life to rescue his homeland from oppression and poverty is nothing short of heroic, and the newfound ally they'd gain in Wave would have been a huge advantage for Konoha.

But the risk is simply too great.

If Sakura dies it will be a tragedy, sure.

But if anything were to happen to Naruko or Sasuke, there will undoubtedly be war.

Tazuna leaves alone and unguarded, trudging his way towards certain death.

Kakashi drags Naruko kicking and screaming back to their village.

Sasuke and Sakura follow in total silence.

* * *

.

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

.

* * *

The years passed and missions go by, and Team Seven steadily rises in the ranks. Mostly.

Sasuke graduates to chūnin on the first try, much to Sakura's admiration and Naruko's ire. He aces the written test, carries Team Seven safely through the forest of death, and dominates the final tournament. Quite impressive considering he hasn't even awakened his sharingan. Within a year after that, he joins his older brother in ANBU (despite Itachi's many protests).

On his very first mission in the black ops division of Konoha, Sasuke drags himself back home with tattered, clothes soaked in blood (none of it his), and burning red eyes with three tomoe dancing around each pupil. After that Itachi redoubles his protests of his little brother being in ANBU, but falters when the Yondaime shows his support for Sasuke. So in ANBU Sasuke remains, although as Commander Itachi does his best to direct the harsher missions away from his little brother.

When Kakashi teaches his genin the "proper" way to climb trees right before their very first chūnin exam, it quickly becomes apparent that Sakura doesn't just have _good_ chakra control, she has _perfect_ chakra control. Unfortunately, her chakra reserves are almost embarrassingly small, and her endurance is severely lacking compared to the vast majority of her peers. Still, perfect chakra control is practically unheard of, so much that the only people who possess it grew into legends. Tsunade Senju is a prime example.

Sakura doesn't pass the chūnin exams that year, but she _does _get Tsunade's attention, and under the Slug Princess's tutelage blossoms into one of the finest medics Konoha has ever seen. To her delight (and Naruko's seething jealousy), Sakura passes the chūnin exams the very next year.

Naruko remains a genin for a rather long time. On the first try she manages to make it into the final rounds of the chūnin exam, but is quickly shut down by a (justifiably) confident Neji. Had she had more chakra (had she been a jinchūriki), then maybe she could have shrugged off having her tenketsu points closed. Maybe she could have made enough shadow clones to actually make a difference. But maybe Neji is right, and it just isn't her fate to win . . .

After the complete failure of her first attempt at chūnin, Jiraiya sweeps in out of nowhere and takes her on an impromptu trip out of Konoha to, "see all the lovely sights" as he puts it. Naruko is so depressed that she doesn't even care if her godfather is going to be perving on girls' baths. Inevitably, Jiraiya gets so annoyed with Naruko's gloominess that he offers to teach her a new jutsu just to see if it will lift her spirits.

Naruko immediately demands to learn how to use a rasengan.

She tries for chūnin year after year, but each time there is a different excuse. She doesn't use enough strategy. She is too cocksure and brash. She is too _loud_ (and Naruko becomes even louder when she hears _that_ one). Eventually, she storms up to her father (ignoring or not caring about the fact that he is in a meeting at the time) and demands to know if she is being held back on purpose.

Minato bluntly admits to his guilt, stating that he will not promote her unless _he_ thinks that she's ready.

Naruko screams and shouts, she whines and she begs, but nothing will change her father's mind. Naruko will be promoted when she can actually protect herself, and until then she will remain under Kakashi's watchful eye as a genin. It is nearly three years after her first chūnin exam at the age of fifteen that Naruko finally passes, and only because Kushina (out of motherly pity) teaches her daughter how to wield the Uzumaki chakra chains.

* * *

.

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

.

* * *

Without even realizing it, Naruko has grown beautiful. Unruly yellow hair turns into golden tresses that spill down her back, and without warning her blue-eyed gaze transforms from vaguely idiotic to borderline enchanting. Her lips become lush and full, and her eyelashes long and thick. There are gentle curves where there were once none, marking her as more than just a child, but still not quite a woman in her own right.

She's never _once _approached by a boy, though, even though the girls of her age group are being asked out on dates left and right.

Many speculate that it's the Yondaime's fault for appearing so threatening to anyone who might harm his darling little girl. Minato knows better though. Normally he _would_ be doing the intimidating and making the death-threats as any good father should to the young men that pursue their daughters.

But frankly, he doesn't have to lift a finger.

Not when Sasuke's dark glower sends even the bravest potential boyfriend scurrying for safety.

For that alone, Minato approves of the boy.

* * *

.

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

.

* * *

On a day of clear skies and a warm, gentle wind, Konoha drowns in a sea of the densest, most murderous chakra in living memory.

Golden light spills over the rooftops, blinding in its brilliance, then as suddenly as it arrives it vanishes, taking with it the vast killing intent.

Naruko finds out about him days later, the man who looks like her father, but feels like a beast.

* * *

.

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

.

* * *

She, her mother, Sasuke, and Sasuke's ANBU follow the trail into Wave.

Going back to that country is hard in ways that makes her heart twist with regret.

Not a day goes by that Naruko doesn't think about what could have been different. Maybe if she'd said something, maybe if she'd _done_ something.

It all boils down to one thing. The mission that Tazuna and his family desperately needed, the mission that was supposed to save all of Wave, was cancelled because she was _weak_. Because Kakashi-sensei wasn't confident he could protect them against more missing-nin. Because she was too "important" to risk being hurt, even if she was also a shinobi.

The day she watches Tazuna walk away with his head hung low in defeat is the first day she is ashamed to be the Hokage's daughter.

Seeing the consequences of the abandoned mission is like a punch to the gut.

There are so many graves.

The streets are completely empty save a few stray dogs scrounging through overturned trash cans. There is red staining the dirt road seemingly at random. There's a lot of it.

What _happened_ here?

* * *

.

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

.

* * *

Her world narrows down to a single point as she sees Sasuke's head snap back, the shattered porcelain of his mask falling to the wooden floor. Almost bonelessly, her best friend (_her_ best friend) slumps into an unconscious heap, his aggressor standing directly above him.

"SASUKE!" Naruko screams, horror giving volume to her voice.

The man, the _thing_ in front of her crouches on all fours and roars its challenge.

For a moment time stands still as its burning gaze snaps to her, eyes red and glowing like fire. Then without warning it looks to her mom and lunges with breath-taking speed, so fast that Naruko nearly fears the worst. At the last possible moment, Kushina gracefully twists out of the way of a clawed swipe and lands behind the monster. Golden chains, huge and robust, spring from Kushina's back, wrapping around the monster and bodily lifting it off the floor.

It stills for a moment, confused as to why it's suddenly upside down. Then there is an ominous groan as one by one, Kushina's chakra chains begin to strain. How that monster can possibly be so strong, Naruko has no idea. Her heart nearly stops when the (_thing-beast-does-it-matter?_) fights against the chains, and the air fills with metallic twangs as the adamantine links break one by one.

"Naruko!" her mother barks, panic brushing the edges of her tone. "I need help!"

Naruko's body follows the order before her mind even registers the motion, and there is a tug deep inside her gut as chains nearly as dense and robust as her mother's spring forth from her chest, lashing around the monster and effectively immobilizing him.

Within moments, the red vanishes from his gaze, and his eyes are a color that Naruko recognizes from looking in the mirror. He looks like a _person_ now, and Naruko's not really sure how she feels about that.

"Mom?" he whispers, looking at Kushina with an expression that can only be described as baffled.

Wait.

_What?_

What the hell?

* * *

.

**~o**0**O**0**o~**

.

* * *

She's decides she doesn't like him.

For one thing he punched Sasuke in the face. Not that she _cares_ that much, but . . . she supposes that it would be a shame for Sasuke to get a scar on his face of all places. Aunty Mikoto wouldn't be happy, and neither would Itachi-nii.

But the main reason is because of the twinge in her chest whenever she sees her mother fussing over his stupid blond hair (that's exactly the same shade as hers) or his stupid face (that Sasuke says looks just like hers, the bastard). Naruko has enjoyed the undivided love and attention from both of her parents (and to a certain extent, the rest of Konoha) for all her life, and to have someone else be the center of attention—the center of _mom's_ attention—makes her more than a little grouchy.

It doesn't improve her mood when the weird guy and her mom talk for more than half a day, abandoning Naruko, Sasuke, and all of the ANBU to an intensely uncomfortable staring session with the Wave survivors whom they'd assaulted. They are far from forgiven, that was for sure. The women are _livid_ at their home being invaded, and even more so when they discover that the primary target was the weird guy (who had apparently saved them).

And that hits harder than anything. This man who looks like her right down to the unique whiskers on his cheeks had _saved_ Wave, rescued them from the invading bandits. Where Naruko's weakness had forced Kakashi to refuse the mission, this man rushed in alone without a single thought for himself all to help those who were left. And he could do that because he was strong enough.

And Naruko couldn't, because she wasn't strong.

Not at all.


End file.
